Related topics: climate change , coral , ocean acidification
Coral reef
hideCoral reefs are aragonite structures produced by living organisms, found in marine waters containing few nutrients. In most reefs, the predominant organisms are stony corals, colonial cnidarians that secrete an exoskeleton of calcium carbonate. The accumulation of skeletal material, broken and piled up by wave action and bioeroders, produces a calcareous formation that supports the living corals and a great variety of other animal and plant life.
Coral reefs most commonly live in tropical waters, but deep water and cold water corals exist on a much smaller scale.
Globally, coral reefs are under threat from climate change, ocean acidification, overuse of reef resources, and harmful land-use practices. High nutrient levels such as those found in runoff from agricultural areas can harm reefs by encouraging excess algae growth.
For more information about Coral reef, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with coral reefs
Red Sea coral seen to feed on jellyfish
Nov 17, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Corals depends on the products of photosynthetic algae for most of their food, but they also eat tiny plankton. Now, for the first time, there is evidence of a coral eating jellyfish.
Venomous sea snakes play heads or tails with their predators
Aug 06, 2009 |
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In a deadly game of heads or tails venomous sea snakes in the Pacific and Indian Oceans deceive their predators into believing they have two heads, claims research published today in Marine Ecology.
Sponges recycle carbon to give life to coral reefs
Nov 13, 2009 |
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Coral reefs support some of the most diverse ecosystems on the planet, yet they thrive in a marine desert. So how do reefs sustain their thriving populations?
New research decodes the secret language of the sea
Jul 09, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Even parasite-eating fish recognise the benefits of good advertising, UQ research has found.
Global sunscreen won't save corals
Jun 16, 2009 |
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Emergency plans to counteract global warming by artificially shading the Earth from incoming sunlight might lower the planet's temperature a few degrees, but such "geoengineering" solutions would do little to stop the acidification ...
Studies shed light on collapse of coral reefs (w/Video)
May 28, 2009 |
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An explosion of knowledge has been made in the last few years about the basic biology of corals, researchers say in a new report, helping to explain why coral reefs around the world are collapsing and what ...
Acidic oceans could aid photosynthesis
May 18, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Groundbreaking Victoria University research shows that ocean acidification may have no negative effect on tropical corals and local sea anemones - in fact it may improve photosynthesis.
Fight to save the 'Amazon of the oceans'
May 10, 2009 |
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With its pleasure boats dipping on the horizon and clustered tourist restaurants, the Indonesian island of Nusa Lembongan looks little like the edge of a great wilderness.
Study reveals 'sobering' decline of Caribbean's big fish, fisheries
May 06, 2009 |
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Sharks, barracuda and other large predatory fishes disappear on Caribbean coral reefs as human populations rise, endangering the region's marine food web and ultimately its reefs and fisheries, according to ...
Large sponges may be reattached to coral reefs
Apr 27, 2009 |
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April 27, 2009 - A new study appearing in Restoration Ecology describes a novel technique for reattaching large sponges that have been dislodged from coral reefs. The findings could be generally applied to the restoration of oth ...
Reef boom beats doom
Apr 21, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Marine scientists say they are astonished at the spectacular recovery of certain coral reefs in Australia's Great Barrier Reef Marine Park from a devastating coral bleaching event in 2006.
The fragility of the world's coral is revealed through a study of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands
Apr 06, 2009 |
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A new study by researchers from UC Santa Barbara's National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) sheds light on how threats to the world's endangered coral reef ecosystems can be more effectively ...
Economic crisis drives the mothers of invention
Apr 04, 2009 |
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Crisis is the mother of invention, if one believes the bright sparks behind the gizmos, contraptions, novelties and potions at the international inventions exhibition in the Swiss city of Geneva.
You don't call, you don't write: Connectivity in marine fish populations
Mar 25, 2009 |
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Children of baby boomers aren't the only ones who have taken to setting up home far from where their parents live. A new study published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences documents how larval ...
Coral reefs may start dissolving when atmospheric CO2 doubles
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Mar 09, 2009 |
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Rising carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the resulting effects on ocean water are making it increasingly difficult for coral reefs to grow, say scientists. A study to be published online March 13, 2009 in ...
