Latest Coral reefs Stories
Special conservation zones known as marine protected areas provide many direct benefits to fisheries and coral reefs. However, such zones appear to offer limited help to corals in their battle against global warming, according to a new study. To protect coral reefs from climate change, marine protected areas need to be complemented with policies that can meaningfully reduce greenhouse gas emissions, researchers said. The new study was conducted by scientists from Conservation...
As global warming heats up the Earth’s oceans, one ecosystem stands to be severely threatened: Coral reefs. However, new research has given scientists to be hopeful about the fate of these coral reefs. An international team of researchers has studied a coral population in South-East Asian waters that had survived a bleaching event. What was significant about this reef was that it had also survived another bleaching event 12 years earlier in 1998. The researchers published their...
KINGSTON, Jamaica, March 9, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation commences coral reef research on Pedro Bank Jamaica. The expedition to Pedro Bank launches the second year of the Foundation's multi-year coral reef research program, the Global Reef Expedition. The Foundation's research platform, the M/Y Golden Shadow sets off from Port Antonio on the evening March 10th and will arrive at the research site in Pedro Bank early the following...
Ever had to find your friend in a crowd? Imagine at a festival your mate saying: "I'll be wearing a yellow t-shirt by the hotdog stall behind the jazz stage." Using this information, you could walk around listening out for the romping double bass, and as you get closer and start to hear the trills of the trumpet, begin to sniff out the frying onions and sizzling sausages. Once you have located the hotdog stand, you only need to look for a bright yellow t-shirt and you will find your friend....
Loss of predatory fish leads to more sea urchins, less coralline algae, and lower recruitment of juvenile corals on Kenyan reefs A study of the tropical coral reef system along the coastline of Kenya has found dramatic effects of overfishing that could threaten the long-term health of the reefs. Led by scientists at the University of California, Santa Cruz, the study was published in the journal Coral Reefs (online publication January 28). The researchers found that the loss of...
Researchers have partnered with Google in an effort to allow anyone with Internet access to take a virtual tour of Australia's Great Barrier Reef. The Catlin Seaview Survey announced that it will carry out the first comprehensive study of the composition and health of reef coral to an unprecedented depth range. The project's chief scientists, Ove Hoegh Guldberg, a professor at the University of Queensland, said scientific data gathered would help strengthen the understanding about how...
More than 300 eminent scientists from 21 other countries around the world today urged the Australian Federal Government to create the world’s largest no-take marine reserve in the Coral Sea. “Marine reserves are an important tool for managing and restoring ecosystems. They protect brood stocks for sustainable fisheries and rebuild distorted foodwebs. We know how well they work because of the differences that we observe again and again between different marine zones under existing...
Northernmost location in the world for transplantation of endangered coral HOLLYWOOD, Fla., Feb. 17, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In a delicate operation at sea, healthy staghorn coral were transplanted Friday to a threatened reef off the Broward County coast by researchers at Nova Southeastern University's Oceanographic Center and its internal National Coral Reef Institute (NCRI). "This is the northernmost location on the planet for transplanted staghorn corals," said Abby...
When it comes to choosing a place to hang out, big reef fish like coral trout, snappers and sweetlips have strong architectural preferences. The choices big fish make on where to shelter could have a major influence on their ability to cope with climate change, say scientists from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University. In research aimed at understanding the process of fish population decline when coral reefs sustain major damage, PhD student James...
First-of-its kind study of extreme temperature shock reveals complexities of climate-induced threats Around the world coral reefs are facing threats brought by climate change and dramatic shifts in sea temperatures. While ocean warming has been the primary focus for scientists and ocean policy managers, cold events can also cause large-scale coral bleaching events. A new study by scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego compared damage to corals exposed to heat as...
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...
