Galapagos Corals May Predict the Future of Reefs Worldwide

Although the corals around the Galapagos Islands are quite scarce, researchers have discovered them and have been using them to direct their research on how coral growth will be affected in the future. A team of researchers with the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation’s Global Reef Expedition, a six-year survey of coral reefs worldwide, spent 18 days aboard the Golden Shadow research vessel in the Galapagos, surveying the corals of eight islands. Along with fascination from the beauty of the Islands, they were able to discover that the amount of CO2 in the water also plays a giant role on coral growth, as well as the temperature changes of the water and the seasons. Derek Manzello, a team member, learns that CO2 conducts a negative effect on coral reefs. CO2 creates acid in the water, and highly acidic water leads to the poor growth of coral reefs. High acidic waters or waters of a very high temperature, cause the symbiotic algae on the reefs to fade creating great damage to the coral reefs. So why does any of this really matter? Well, the answer is simple : You may already know that many organisms in the water rely on coral reefs for shelter or food, but they're also involved in assisting with the reproduction process of an organism. Some organisms, like the  Porites lobata, actually release sperm or egg into the water, which then travels to create new coral. Coral reefs have been valuable to our environment for ages. Up till now, scientists believed that coral reefs were tangled in dangerous situations, now they are beginning to uncover the news that there may be a chance for recovery.




 Link to the Article:

http://ens-newswire.com/2012/11/20/galapagos-coral-may-predict-the-future-of-reefs-worldwide/ 

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