‘Traffic calming’ boosts breeding on coral reefs
Coral reef fish breed more successfully if motorboat noise is reduced, new research shows. Scientists introduced “traffic calming” on three reefs for an entire breeding season — cutting the number of boats within 100m, and reducing the speed of those within that distance. They then tracked the breeding of fish called spiny chromis — and […]
Sex and the symbiont: Can algae hookups help corals survive? Rice biologists’ discovery can be used to help climate-challenged reefs survive for now
A little more sexy time for symbionts could help coral reefs survive the trials of climate change. And that, in turn, could help us all. Researchers at Rice University and the Spanish Institute of Oceanography already knew the importance of algae known as dinoflagellates to the health of coral as the oceans warm, and have […]
Molecular underpinnings of a disease affecting corals
Coral reefs are a favorite spot for scuba divers and are among the world’s most diverse ecosystems. For example, the Hawaiian coral reefs, known as the “rainforests of the sea,” host over 7,000 species of marine animals, fishes, birds and plants. But coral reefs are facing serious threats, including a number of diseases that have […]