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New study predicts where corals can thrive
April 17, 2008The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the International Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth have developed a new scientific model that accurately maps where coral reefs are in the most trouble and identifies regions where reefs can be protected best. The model, which is being applied in areas throughout the Indian Ocean, is described in a recent issue of the UK-based journal Ecological Modelling.
The model synthesizes several ocean conditions, such as seawater temperatures, photosynthetic and ultraviolet light, winds and currents, and the concentration of microscopic plankton on the ocean's surface. These data were factored into previous reports of coral stress or bleaching and were then used to map the distribution of these inhospitable conditions.
The researchers found that much of the northern Indian Ocean contains very stressful environments for corals and that half of its marine parks with the strictest regulations are found within these harsh areas. Areas of the Maldives and the Seychelles fall in the middle of the most severe conditions; these include some of the best coral reef parks and diving spots. In an area east and just north of Madagascar lie the least-stressed reefs, which include those off the islands of Mauritius, Rodriques, and Reunion. These are now among the reefs the model identifies as the highest priority for conservation.
Corals have been devastated in large areas across the world. Disappearing at rates up to 5.4 percent per year over the past 30 years, they are among the earliest victims of climate change. Bleaching, which climate change exacerbates, occurs when corals become so stressed that they eject the beneficial algae that give them their color. This eventually causes large sections of the reefs to lose much of their biodiversity.
"Despite the large areas in high and severe stress, the model suggests that there are some reefs with less stressful conditions and more reasons for hope," said WCS researcher Dr. Timothy McClanahan, one of the study's authors.
Wildlife Conservation Society
Corals have been devastated in large areas across the world. Disappearing at rates up to 5.4 percent per year over the past 30 years, they are among the earliest victims of climate change. Bleaching, which climate change exacerbates, occurs when corals become so stressed that they eject the beneficial algae that give them their color. This eventually causes large sections of the reefs to lose much of their biodiversity.
"Despite the large areas in high and severe stress, the model suggests that there are some reefs with less stressful conditions and more reasons for hope," said WCS researcher Dr. Timothy McClanahan, one of the study's authors.
Wildlife Conservation Society
Coral Reefs Current Events and Coral Reefs News RSSModest CO2 cutbacks may be too little, too late for coral reefs
How much carbon dioxide is too much? According to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) greenhouse gases in the atmosphere need to be stabilized at levels low enough to "prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system." But scientists have come to realize that an even more acute danger than climate change is lurking in the world's oceans-one that is likely to be triggered by CO2 levels that are modest by climate standards.
How corals adapt to day and night
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Protection zones in the wrong place to prevent coral reef collapse
Conservation zones are in the wrong place to protect vulnerable coral reefs from the effects of global warming, an international team of scientists warned today.
Protection zones in the wrong place to prevent coral reef collapse
Conservation zones are in the wrong place to protect vulnerable coral reefs from the effects of global warming, an international team of scientists warned today.
Shipwrecks on coral reefs harbor unwanted species
Shipwrecks on coral reefs may increase invasion of unwanted species, according to a recent U.S. Geological Survey study. These unwanted species can completely overtake the reef and eliminate all the native coral, dramatically decreasing the diversity of marine organisms on the reef.
Researchers find cancer-inhibiting compound under the sea
University of Florida College of Pharmacy researchers have discovered a marine compound off the coast of Key Largo that inhibits cancer cell growth in laboratory tests, a finding they hope will fuel the development of new drugs to better battle the disease.
Lionfish decimating tropical fish populations, threaten coral reefs
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Massive greenhouse gases may be released as destruction, drying of world wetlands worsens: UN
Leading world scientists convene in Brazil July 21-25 amid growing concern that evaporation and ongoing destruction of world wetlands, which hold a volume of carbon similar to that in the atmosphere today, could cause them to exhale billows of greenhouse gases.
NOAA report states half of US coral reefs in 'poor' or 'fair' condition
Nearly half of U.S. coral reef ecosystems are considered to be in "poor" or "fair" condition according to a new NOAA analysis of the health of coral reefs under U.S. jurisdiction.
Smithsonian coral biodiversity survey of Panama's Pearl Islands
A comprehensive survey of coral biodiversity in Panama's Las Perlas Archipelago, published in the journal Environmental Conservation by researchers from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and their colleagues, has resulted in clear conservation recommendations for a new coastal management plan.
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