Bush Administration plan to reduce global warming could devastate sea life
...Shallow-living organisms like shelled mollusks and corals are already being affected by the growing levels of CO2 in the atmosphere. As atmospheric CO2 diffuses into the upper layers of the water, it inhibits the ability of shellfish to form shells and causes coral reefs to dissolve. Deep-sea creatures a...Marine scientists discover nutrient pollution boosts fungi, bacteria killing Caribbean reefs
...aspergillosis and two species of the reef-building corals Montastraea, which yellow band disease can kill. ...ncrease mortality of the three important Caribbean corals by facilitating the spread of disease," Bruno said. "Our results suggest that further steps should b......mes. In addition, fishing gears inflict damage to corals and other seafloor habitats. "Shifting gears: assessing collateral impacts of fishing methods in US waters," which appears in this month's issue of the Ecological Society of America's journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, ranks the ten m...Report details growing climate change threat to coral reefs
...are promoting coral "bleaching"--episodes in which corals and other reef-building species are weakened or ki...te ion, a building block of calcium carbonate that corals and other organisms use to grow their skeletons and build up the reefs. Carbon dioxide levels in the...1,136 scientists call for protection of deep-sea corals
...ists have recently discovered forests of gorgonian corals and reefs of stony corals at scattered locations in cold and deep ocean waters around the world. Some corals resemble "trees"...Researchers discover new family of Atlantic corals in groundbreaking study
...ch Institute in Panama, has identified a family of corals found only in the Atlantic--a first for such class...hat ocean--in a study that could transform the way corals are viewed and classified throughout the world. Researchers from the United States, Brazil, Taiwan a...Isolated corals reefs are at risk from global climate change
For species such as corals the dispersal of their larvae and restocking of da... km south and the southernmost Pacific Ocean Reef, corals have little of the genetic diversity needed to respond to change and appear to have no current conne...Invasive species: A few bucks and a click away
...l diversity and reef building capabilities. These corals also provide habitat for economically important sp...acks, snappers and sharks. Like all reefs, these corals are susceptible to damage by trawling. Roberts and Hirshfield make several suggestions for better p...Study marks increased trends in infectious disease occurrences in our oceans
...tific literature of disease outbreaks for turtles, corals (non-infectious bleaching), mollusks, mammals and ...ed no significant trends for seagrasses, decapods, corals (infectious disease) and sharks/rays, and, most surprisingly, they found evidence of decreased repor...Traditional fishing destroys corals - new research
...onal fishing in Fiji, where they witnessed healthy corals dying and being rapidly replaced - possibly perman...arfish population explosion over one year, healthy corals began to rapidly disappear and in space of one year the cover of algae increased from one fifth of t......t small samples of such organisms as sponges, soft corals and cone snails for further study. The scientists will test the potential of chemicals produced by these animals to fight disease first through simple experiments on board the ship and later with more elaborate tests in their respective labs. For ins...Corals can reestablish symbiosis with algae from their environments after bleaching
... they've undergone bleaching, the process by which corals whiten as a result of environmental stress, Univer...ience. The research provides evidence that corals may have multiple mechanisms that facilitate recovery from bleaching induced by environmental stress...2004 BP Conservation Programme winners pave the way for protecting wildlife
... of Brazil, to the conservation of endangered rare corals in the Marshall Islands. Some teams will map their research areas, highlighting key areas for protection and restoration, while others will be working in regions already identified as highest priority ('critical') for conservation in order to protec...Impact of Earth's rising atmospheric carbon dioxide found in world oceans
...f marine organisms at high CO 2 levels, including corals and plankton, drifting plants and animals on which other marine life feeds. "Based on our present knowledge, it appears that as seawater CO 2 levels rise the skeletal growth rates of calcareous plankton will be reduced as a result of the effects of...NSF awards $10 million in grants to ocean sites for long-term ecological research
...ling processes, and by the structure reef-building corals provide," says Phil Taylor, director of NSF's biological oceanography program. "Stony corals are the foundation upon which tens of thousands of other species rely." Research at the new French P...UAF scientists discover new marine habitat in Alaska
...o settle and form brightly colored beds. And while corals are animals that filter plankton and other organisms from the water for food, rhodoliths produce energy through photosynthesis. Globally, rhodoliths fill an important niche in the marine ecosystem, serving as a transition habitat between rocky ar......understanding of the distribution and abundance of corals and could eventually provide information required ...els. The ability to forecast the response of reef corals to environmental conditions, as a function of natural variability and human influence, will be a key...