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The structural complexity of a healthy coral reef provides habitat for a diversity of lifeforms. Credit: Andrew Thurber The structural complexity of coral reefs creates a vibrant underwater city populated by a diverse assortment of characters. Ironically, this same complexity can impede coral recovery after disturbances. Researchers working at reefs in Moorea, French Polynesia found
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Coral reefs, those vibrant underwater cities, stand on the precipice of collapse. While rising ocean temperatures and coral bleaching grab headlines, a new essay in Current Biology reveals a hidden layer of complexity in this fight for survival: the often-overlooked roles of the reefs’ smallest inhabitants. Scientists have long understood the
A coral reef in Belize showing dead coral, living healthy elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata), both diseased and healthy symmetrical brain corals (Pseudodiploria strigosa), and a spotfin butterflyfish. Although some fish may benefit from Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease in the short term, the erosion of dead coral skeletons over time poses a grave threat to
Editors’ notes This article has been reviewed according to Science X’s editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content’s credibility: fact-checked trusted source written by researcher(s) proofread by Britta Schaffelke, David Wachenfeld and Selina Stead, The Conversation Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain The fourth global coral bleaching event, announced this
The process of atoll island accretion. Credit: Trends in Ecology & Evolution (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2023.11.004 Ecological restoration may save coral atoll islands from the rising seas of climate change, according to an international team of scientists, conservationists, and an indigenous leader. While global carbon emission reduction is imperative, local measures could be the key to
NOAA Coral Reef Watch version 3.1 data as annual plots (1985–2023) of the daily percentage of ocean pixels with Degree Heating Weeks (DHW) ≥ 4 (when coral bleaching is likely to occur) for latitude 5° S to 30° N and longitude 60° W to 105° W (study region displayed in map inset). Note that around
Mariah Opalek at water tanks tending to coral experiments. Credit: Shayle Matsuda Algae living within the soft tissue of coral supply much of the energy needed by their hosts, and some symbiotic algae help coral withstand warmer water better than others. In a recently published study led by the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, researchers
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Adult fragments of a coral species can better tolerate bleaching and recover faster when treated with tougher heat-evolved symbionts, new research from the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) and the University of Melbourne indicates. The work is published in Global Change Biology. The study also found that treatment with the
Coral reefs teem with life, supporting about 25% of all marine creatures. Credit: Off Axis Production, Shutterstock.com Greater understanding of how corals reproduce and react to climate change will bolster conservation and restoration. Dr. Núria Viladrich of Spain was forced by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 to cancel a planned visit to the US Virgin