World's smallest seahorse discovered
... Lourie. Heavy-duty trawling gear that can flatten reefs is one potential threat. Underwater tourism is another. "Divers and photographers could possibly love these animals to death," she says. Lourie is doctoral student at McGill University in Montreal. She worked with Dr. John Randall of the Bishop Museu...Even 'non-destructive' fishing can threaten coral reef fish
... in the June issue of Conservation Biology. Coral reefs have the greatest diversity of fish worldwide and many species are unique to particular reefs. Prized for their bright colors, coral reef fish are harvested by the hundreds of thousands each year. While non-destructive fishing methods are clearly an ...Is run-off wrecking the Great Barrier Reef
...coral biodiversity was almost twice as high on the reefs far from agricultural areas than on the reefs close by. In both areas, coral cover and biodiversity decreased as the dose of pollutants increased,...Researchers discover birds protect trees in neotropics by eating insects
...osion and subsequent damage to mangroves and coral reefs along the coast. Cacao plants grow readily in the shade of forest canopies. "Herbivore activity itself isn't a huge problem, but fungal disease, often carried by arthropods, is the biggest challenge facing cacao production," she said. By possibly a...Mediterranean fishery recovers, thanks to manmade pollutants
...lgal blooms, and the loss of sea grasses and coral reefs make it clear that it is easy to deliver 'too much of a good thing' to the coastal ocean." ...Science Picksleads, feeds and story seeds (July 2003)
...keletons. One of the principal corals for building reefs in Hawaii, "rice coral" (Montipora capitata), rele...to track the elusive coral to find out why certain reefs off West Maui are doing well and why others are doing poorly. The scientists used underwater tripods...Helping coral reefs survive climate change
...eratures during the 1997-98 El Nino bleached coral reefs in more than 50 tropical countries worldwide, patc... may represent the single greatest threat to coral reefs worldwide," say Jordan West of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, DC, and Rodne...New imaging vehicle maps coral reefs to determine health of reef and fisheries
Deepwater coral reefs in the US Virgin Islands may occupy a much larger ...d study to determine the health of deepwater coral reefs and related spawning areas for commercial fisheries. While recent reports indicate shallow reefs in...Science picks: Leads, feeds and story seeds for August 2003
...sediment and ocean currents have on Hawaiian coral reefs and are now tracking the movement of "rice coral" ...cally valuable Hawaiian coastal environment. Coral reefs are storehouses of immense biological wealth that provide services worth about $375 billion each yea...Long-term decline of coral reef ecosystems reported
...a Grant program. They studied the history of coral reefs surrounding the Virgin Islands. "There is a wide ...were set up using consistent criteria, grading the reefs from pristine to extinct for seven categories of biota: large herbivores, large carnivores, small h...Research: Coral reefs' decline actually began centuries ago
...he goal: reconstruct the ecological history of the reefs from before the first people appeared to fish them... and Pacific oceans and the Red Sea, including the reefs of the Caribbean and the Great Barrier Reef.Each scientist handled a different region, with Bjorndal...Historical coral reef declines featured in this week's Science
...have fished highly productive and biodiverse coral reefs for thousands of years. John Pandolfi, paleoecol...torical analyses provide us with a glimpse of what reefs were like in the absence of human influence. We have a baseline that doesn't shift, helping to put ...Exploring oil rigs and an ancient shoreline in the Gulf Of Mexico for new disease cures
... could allow them to remain in place as artificial reefs to support corals, marine sponges and other sea life. During the expedition, scientists will run a range of tests on samples of animals such as sponges, sea urchins, sea fans, tube worms, soft corals and associated microbes collected. For instance, ...Interdisciplinary coral bleaching research funded
...o an internationally recognized authority on coral reefs and coral bleaching. The team will devel...s is causing thermal stress and bleaching of coral reefs and subsequent coral decline. Mass coral bleaching is now the biggest threat to the survival of cora...New medicines at risk from biodiversity loss
...al climate change. A quarter of the planet's coral reefs have already been seriously damaged or destroyed a...ell trade. People threaten 97% of Philippine coral reefs and extinctions are inevitable if impacts are not alleviated soon. Habitat loss and escalating, unco...How many fish in the sea? Census of Marine Life launches first report
...fore small animals and other species, and Atlantic reefs declined before reefs in the Red Sea and Australia, but the rate of decline was markedly similar worldwide. All reefs were...Bush Administration plan to reduce global warming could devastate sea life
...ility of shellfish to form shells and causes coral reefs to dissolve. Deep-sea creatures are even more sensitive to environmental changes, he said. In some species, their metabolism would become suppressed and lead to retarded growth and reproduction, while others would be unable to transport oxygen in ...Marine scientists discover nutrient pollution boosts fungi, bacteria killing Caribbean reefs
...rgoed) CHAPEL HILL -- In the Caribbean Sea, coral reefs -- those gorgeous, eye-popping, fish-nourishing, s... State University in Northridge. "Caribbean coral reefs have declined dramatically over the past 20 years or so as disease epidemics have swept through them...NASA learning to monitor coral reef health from the sky
...metimes called the "bellwether of the seas," coral reefs can give first indications of marine ecosystem health. "Scientists can use coral health as a sensitive indicator of the health of the marine environment," said Liane Guild, a scientist at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. "We're lo......hesis inplants and bacteria, the building of coral reefs and manyfundamental processes in animals - such as bone formation,breathing and muscle contraction. NSF has supported the Protein Data Bank continuously since 1975.A multi-agency support partnership first formed in 1989. For thepast five years, tha...