Latest Coralline algae Stories

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...

Wildlife Conservation Society confirms sea urchins destroy reef building algae in overfished sites on Kenya's coastAn 18-year study of Kenya's coral reefs by the Wildlife Conservation Society and the University of California at Santa Cruz has found that overfished reef systems have more sea urchins"”organisms that in turn eat coral algae that build tropical reef systems.By contrast, reef systems closed to fishing have fewer sea urchins"”the result of predatory fish keeping urchins under...

Geologists of the University of Granada - UGR have successfully described for the first time ever the biological mechanism that explains how calcareous red algae grow on rocky substrates. This is an amazing finding that has allowed us to know the physiology of this type of algae better and explain an existing paradox in the field of Paleontology: the lack of these algae in sedimentary rocks of fossil cliffs. In particular, an organic layer lying between the red algae that grow on rocks and...

An international team of researchers has studied the coralline algae fossils that lived on the last coral reefs of the Mediterranean Sea between 7.24 and 5.3 million years ago. Mediterranean algae and coral reefs began to resemble present day reefs following the isolation of the Mediterranean from the Indian Ocean and global cooling 15 and 20 million years ago respectively. The research team from the University of Granada (UGR) and the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (Italia) show...