As climate change accelerates, heat waves have become more and more common, and with more heat waves come more coral deaths. It turns out, however, that some corals have the capacity to survive and recover from heat waves. A team of scientists published these findings recently in the journal Nature Communications.
Corals and algae have a mutually beneficial relationship. The corals are made up of colonies of tiny invertebrates, called polyps, that live in the crevices. Polyps house photosynthetic algae, and in exchange for a place to live, the algae provide them with an abundance of food and a nice touch of color. But even a small hike in the water temperature triggers corals to dispel the algae, causing them to bleach and turn a ghostly shade of white. Bleaching doesn't exactly kill the corals, but it leaves them vulnerable to disease or starvation, and the corals only have a small window to recover before it's too late.
A team of researchers zeroed in on Christmas Island, also known as Kiritimati, to study brain and star corals in the midst of a heat wave that lasted from 2015 to 2016. It is the third largest coral bleaching event in recorded history, and it lasted for an unyielding ten months, according to a press release. The team tagged, photographed and tracked individual corals around the island to see how they were faring throughout the relentless heat wave, reports Donna Lu for New Scientist.
More details about this over at Smithsonian Magazine.
This is great news!
(Image Credit: Acropora at English Wikipedia)
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the heat is on
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