Recent experiments conducted at the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) produced striking results, showing for the first time that corals hosting a single type of zooxanthellae can have different levels of thermal tolerance – a feature that was only known previously for corals with a mix of zooxanthellae. Zooxanthellae are single-celled plants that live in the tissues of animals. They are dinoflagellates, a group of microscopic plants which are usually found swimming and floating [...]
The preliminary results of the Semporna Marine Ecological Expedition (December 2010) indicate that Semporna may have the world’s highest marine biodiversity. The expedition yielded a record number of 43 species of mushroom corals. Furthermore, some new species were discovered, among which at least two shrimps and possibly a number of gall crabs. The health of the reefs was judged to be relatively poor: 36% of the transects had fair, another 36% had poor live coral [...]
An international scientific team has shown that strong links between the corals reefs of the south China sea, West Pacific and Coral Triangle hold the key to preserving fish and marine resources in the Asia-Pacific region. Research by Dr Johnathan Kool of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and James Cook University, and his colleagues, has established that the richest marine region on Earth — the Coral Triangle between Indonesia, Malaysia and [...]
Coral reefs are among the most diverse ecosystems on the planet, second only to tropical rain forests. Bird’s nest coral (Seriatopora hystrix) is common throughout the Indo-Pacific and is able to live across a range of depths. However, there is little gene flow between the coral populations at each depth and even the algal endosymbionts (Symbiodinium), which provide energy for the corals to survive, are genetically different across habitats. New research published in BioMed Central’s [...]
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. [...]
Five years ago Graham Jones and his team at Southern Cross University in Lismore, New South Wales, Australia, demonstrated that algae living in coral tissue produce a gas called dimethyl sulphide (DMS). When released into the atmosphere, DMS helps clouds form over coral reefs. Jones says that the clouds block sunlight and cool the sea. His team have now discovered that a rise in ocean temperature of only 2 °C causes some algae to stop producing [...]
