Latest Coral reefs Stories
Cornell University researchers have found a new tool to help marine biologists better grasp the processes under the sea: They have created mathematical models to unveil the bacterial community dynamics behind afflictions that bleach and kill coral. (Public Library of Science "“ Biology, March 30, 2010.)Warming waters are triggering coral bleaching and disease in the Caribbean, Indian Ocean and Great Barrier Reef off the Australian coast. Now new mathematical models explain for the first...
Coral reefs are slowly becoming extinct and could disappear entirely within the next century -- which could have disastrous results all over the world, experts claim.According to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) statistics published in a March 25 Associated Press (AP) article, roughly 19-percent of the Earth's coral reefs have already disappeared, and an additional 15-percent could be gone within the next two decades.Furthermore, Dr. Kent Carpenter, a professor at Old...
Warming seas due to climate change have bleached large parts of the southernmost coral reef in the world, putting the reef on the edge of destruction, an Australian scientist warned on Wednesday. Peter Harrison has been monitoring the reef off Lord Howe Island since 1993, and said a rise in sea temperature of 4 degrees Fahrenheit had drained much of the reef of its striking colors. "We're hoping the vast majority of these corals will be able to recover, but at the moment this whole system is...
DOHA, QATAR, March 21 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- International governments today failed to grant trade protection to the unique and valuable red and pick corals (Coralliidae) used in jewelry and home decor, despite sound science showing that regulation is needed for their continued survival. SeaWeb, an ocean conservation organization whose campaign Too Precious to Wear had called for governments to protect Coralliidae under Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered...
A UN agency shot down a proposal made to monitor the trade of declining stocks of valuable corals just days after nixing a ban on bluefin tuna, a move that has many fearing that the body may not be able to keep a close eye on high-value species. The Conference on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) meeting in Doha rejected the proposal despite an 85 percent decline in global harvests of precious red and pink coral since 1980. Environmentalists condemned the decision, warning...
Fossil corals, up to half a million years old, are providing fresh hope that coral reefs may be able to withstand the huge stresses imposed on them by today's human activity.Reef ecosystems were able to persist through massive environmental changes imposed by sharply falling sea levels during previous ice ages, an international scientific team has found. This provides new hope for their capacity to endure the increasing human impacts forecast for the 21st century.In the world's first study of...
In a remarkable new finding scientists from The Vision Centre have reported that certain coral reef fish use ultraviolet (UV) vision to tell the difference between their own and other similar species.Indeed, the otherwise rather plain-looking Ambon damselfish may even be able to recognize individuals by their faces, in much the same way as humans do, the researchers say in a paper in the latest issue of the journal Current Biology.The UV vision may act as a secret channel of communication...
Move, adapt or die. Those are the options marine plants and animals have in the face of climate change, said Stanford biologist Steve Palumbi, who has been exploring how to help them go with the first two options, rather than the third. He's come up with some surprising answers.Palumbi will be discussing the results of his research in two talks at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in San Diego.How to design marine protected areas to best benefit a...
Penn State researchers and their international collaborators have discovered a diversity of corals harboring unusual species of symbiotic algae in the warm waters of the Andaman Sea in the northeastern Indian Ocean. "The existence of so many novel coral symbioses thriving in a place that is too warm for most corals gives us hope that coral reefs and the ecosystems they support may persist "” at least in some places "” in the face of global warming," said the team's leader,...
Experts reported on Monday that a cold streak affecting most of the country is also being blamed for killing Florida's coral reefs. Sea temperatures off southern Florida have plummeted and are damaging the delicate coral structures that cannot survive in extended temperatures below 59 degrees Fahrenheit. The Lower Keys are feeling most of the impact where "temperatures have been lower," and "there is higher mortality," Diego Lirman, an expert on coral reefs at the University of Miami, told...
Latest Coral reefs Reference Libraries
Coral reefs are submerged structures consisting of calcium carbonate secreted by corals. Coral reefs are colonies of small animals found in marine waters that enclose few nutrients. The majority of coral reefs are constructed from stony corals, which then consist of polyps that come together in groups. The polyps are like small sea anemones, to which they are very closely related. Unlike the sea anemones, coral polyps secrete hard carbonate exoskeletons which provide support and protections...
Knotted Fan Coral, (Melithaea ochracea), is a species of colonial soft coral that is found in tree-like fans on shallow reefs in the South China Sea between Taiwan and Indonesia, including Singapore and Malaysia. In Taiwan, it is the most widespread coral in its family Gorgonacea. It is found on the higher parts of reef fronts where its numerous small polyps can feed at water flow rates varying from 1.6 to 16 inches per second. This species usually grow to about 8 inches in length, with...
Leaf Plate Montipora, (Montipora capricornis), also known as Vase Coral, Cap Coral, or simply Montipora, is a species of stony coral found in the Indian and Pacific oceans. It is also found in reefs in the Red Sea. It usually inhabits the top half of the reef where photosynthesis can occur. It branches out from the foundation into an area with adequate sunlight. This species forms flat, plating colonies. The colonies expand by adding to their foundations and further spreading out....
Nephtheidae is a family of soft corals known as carnation corals, tree corals or colt soft corals. These corals are very striking and show a wide range of rich colors including red, pink, yellow and purple. These corals are mainly tree-like in that they branch out and have little knobs on the end of their rubbery branches. Another name given these animals are broccoli corals, due to the fact that their polyps retract in the daytime, giving them the resemblance of the vegetable. The polyps...
Fungia scutaria is a species of mushroom coral in the family Fungiidae. It is found in the Indo-Pacific oceanic region. It occurs on upper reef slopes especially where there is considerable water movement. It is typically found on sand beds or coral fragments. It lives as a single individual rather than as a colony and is detached from the seabed. It has an elongated shape and can grow quite large. The polyp can be up to 6.7 inches long and is embedded in a cup-shaped hollow known as a...
