Coral Reefs
A scientist in his laboratory is not only a technician: he is also a child placed before natural phenomena which impress him like a fairy tale.
- Marie Curie
Coral reefs are more than a colorful underwater world that those of us in temperate regions see on the occasional vacation or in a Disney film. Coral reefs are the most biologically diverse marine ecosystems on the planet, what many call the "rainforests of the sea". Millions of people in the developing countries depend on coral reefs every day, for shoreline protection, for food, and for income (see my article on the subject).
The dominant feature of these diverse ecosystems is a symbiosis between the corals (reef-building animals) and the microscopic algae (known as zooxanthallae or symbiodinium) which live in the coral tissue.
Corals themselves are mostly white - the colour of their skeleton. In some species, there is pink or purplish hue due to some pigmentation in the animal. Most of the colour you actually see in corals when diving or snorkeling comes from the microalgae living in the transparent coral tissue.
The symbiosis is very sensitive to the environmental conditions. When stressed, the corals can "bleach", either via expelling the microalgae from their tissues or from an internal breakdown of the symbiosis. My research has been found that increasing water temperatures have been found to cause mass coral bleaching events at reefs worldwide in recent decades.
My research looks on the effects of changes in climate and ocean chemistry on the future of coral reefs. Working climate modellers, with colleagues in the south and central Pacific, I am examining the response of coral cover and coral diversity to warm water events in order to better predict the future for coral reefs in a warmer world.
Understanding the sensitivity of corals to increasing ocean temperatures is crucial to the conservation of coral reefs in the face of many other pressures like overfishing, sedimentation and disease. As one of the most sensitive ecosystems to temperature change, coral reefs can also be an important benchmark for climate change policy.
For some general information on the coral reef health and some interesting photos of bleached corals, check Coral Watch or Reefbase. If you're wondering when and where coral bleaching may happen, my colleagues at NOAA's Coral Reef Watch track the occurrence of the thermal stress that can lead to bleaching in real-time using satellite observations of ocean temperatures.
- Marie Curie
Coral reefs are more than a colorful underwater world that those of us in temperate regions see on the occasional vacation or in a Disney film. Coral reefs are the most biologically diverse marine ecosystems on the planet, what many call the "rainforests of the sea". Millions of people in the developing countries depend on coral reefs every day, for shoreline protection, for food, and for income (see my article on the subject).
The dominant feature of these diverse ecosystems is a symbiosis between the corals (reef-building animals) and the microscopic algae (known as zooxanthallae or symbiodinium) which live in the coral tissue.
Corals themselves are mostly white - the colour of their skeleton. In some species, there is pink or purplish hue due to some pigmentation in the animal. Most of the colour you actually see in corals when diving or snorkeling comes from the microalgae living in the transparent coral tissue.
The symbiosis is very sensitive to the environmental conditions. When stressed, the corals can "bleach", either via expelling the microalgae from their tissues or from an internal breakdown of the symbiosis. My research has been found that increasing water temperatures have been found to cause mass coral bleaching events at reefs worldwide in recent decades.
My research looks on the effects of changes in climate and ocean chemistry on the future of coral reefs. Working climate modellers, with colleagues in the south and central Pacific, I am examining the response of coral cover and coral diversity to warm water events in order to better predict the future for coral reefs in a warmer world.
Understanding the sensitivity of corals to increasing ocean temperatures is crucial to the conservation of coral reefs in the face of many other pressures like overfishing, sedimentation and disease. As one of the most sensitive ecosystems to temperature change, coral reefs can also be an important benchmark for climate change policy.
Want to learn more?
For some general information on the coral reef health and some interesting photos of bleached corals, check Coral Watch or Reefbase. If you're wondering when and where coral bleaching may happen, my colleagues at NOAA's Coral Reef Watch track the occurrence of the thermal stress that can lead to bleaching in real-time using satellite observations of ocean temperatures.
