In a study recently published in the journal Science Advances, scientists compared nautical charts between 1773 and 1775 of the Florida Keys to satellite data. Specifically, the nautical charts recorded exact location of corals. The location of existing present day coral match the nautical maps. However, over half of the coral recorded in the nautical charts is missing today.
A new paper published in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series shows that the more stressors a coral reef experiences, the lower its survival rates. The study compared growth rates and other indicators on samples of Porites porites that had been pre exposed to elevated CO2 levels. (Image from Shutterstock).
The BBC Earth section has posted an extended article about coral regeneration after bleaching events. Entitled ” The corals that came back from the dead”, the article talks about the “Phoenix Effect” which was first described in 1992 by David Krupp. It describes a process whereby corals can regrow from a small fragment of life after a sea temperature rise. Up until now, this has been observed only in disk corals, but the articles cites Peter Mumby’s experience with Porites sp corals in Rangiroa lagoon, French Polynesia.