This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Disease and heat pose a deadly combination for coral reefs, according to a new University of Georgia study published in the journal Coral Reefs. Previous research has shown that heat stress can increase disease and kill coral.
But the new paper found that corals with preexisting disease conditions were particularly vulnerable. Coral health is strongly influenced by water quality. Corals growing in poor-quality water frequently have more disease, often more severe, than those in cleaner waters.
"Water quality protection is a local issue," said James Porter, co-author of the study and the Josiah Meigs Distinguished Professor Emeritus in UGA's Odum School of Ecology. "These results demonstrate that measures to improve local water quality will also improve coral survival." The researchers also found conservationists can help new coral grow by focusing efforts on the edges of the reefs. "We should be focusing restoration efforts in places where the corals are most likely to survive," said Camilla Nivison, corresponding author of the study and a doctoral student in the Odum School.
"We found some reefs during the heat wave to be an oasis with minimal damage. Nobody's been able to pin down exactly why, but it appears that topography is important." The researchers analyzed hundreds of square feet of coral colonies in the Florida Keys in the summer of 2023. While every year experiences high temperatures in late summer, 2023 broke every record.
A record-breaking heat wave pushed water temperatures above 87 degrees F (31°C) for 41 straight days. Every summer since has experienced similarly hot, prolonged temperatures. Using high-resolution 3D layered photo imaging and underwater mapping, the researchers found heat stress caused immense coral bleaching.
Bleaching happens when coral is stressed by high temperatures or other factors. Under normal circumstances, beneficial algae live in coral, but when water temperatures get too high, the coral expels the algae, exposing the white skeleton underneath. Over time, bleaching leaves coral increasingly vulnerable to disease and starvation, as the microbiome of the coral gets disrupted by pollution or heat.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
