(Press-News.org) Fossil fuel emissions are impacting corals through high temperatures which can cause their deaths and ocean acidification which makes it difficult for them to produce their skeletons. In a study published today in Global Change Biology, Dr Elena Couce, Professor Andy Ridgwell and Dr Erica Hendy used computer models to predict future shifts in the global distribution of coral reef ecosystems under these two stressors.
The researchers found that warming impacts were dominant, with a significant decline in suitability for corals near the equator.
Dr Couce said: "Just as we have to take into account many factors when deciding where to live and juggle the trade-offs such as proximity to a city centre or the desire for a garden, whether a coral reef can establish or not depends on conflicting stressors. Global warming is stronger at the equator and drives corals away into higher latitudes, whereas acidification is stronger close to the poles and pushes coral habitat towards the equator."
Dr Hendy said: "We also found that some areas where conditions are currently borderline for corals, such as the eastern Pacific Ocean, could remain as they are or even become more suitable. This was unexpected and has important implications for coral management, as it suggests that these areas are not necessarily a 'lost cause'."
Coral reefs are very sensitive to future changes. They are also very important to life in the oceans, with the highest biodiversity of all marine ecosystems.
Dr Couce continued: "By 2070 we predict that the Western Pacific, including the area known as the 'Coral Triangle', the bridge between Asia and Australia, will become much less suitable for corals. This is concerning because the Coral Triangle is a biodiversity hotspot containing over 70 per cent of known coral species. Conditions in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia will also get worse, although less rapidly, since it is farther away from the equator."
Professor Ridgwell added: "Suitability for corals gets better at the limits of the current coral reef distribution. But a possible move into higher latitudes will also be difficult. Range expansion is constrained by availability of shallow water areas with adequate light penetration for coral larvae to settle and form new reefs."
###
Paper
'Future habitat suitability for coral reef ecosystems under global warming and ocean acidification' by E. Couce, A. Ridgwell and E.J. Hendy in Global Change Biology
Where can coral reefs relocate to escape the heat?
2013-08-29
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Neutron stars in the computer cloud
2013-08-29
The combined computing power of 200,000 private PCs helps astronomers take an inventory of the Milky Way. The Einstein@Home project connects home and office PCs of volunteers from around the world to a global supercomputer. Using this computer cloud, an international team lead by scientists from the Max Planck Institutes for Gravitational Physics and for Radio Astronomy analysed archival data from the CSIRO Parkes radio telescope in Australia. Using new search methods, the global computer network discovered 24 pulsars – extraordinary stellar remnants with extreme physical ...
Rich or poor in gut bacteria brings new vision for obesity treatment
2013-08-29
Shenzhen, China -- The MetaHIT consortium, comprised of Institute National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), University of Copenhagen, BGI, and other institutes, has investigated the gut microbial composition in a cohort of 123 non-obese and 169 obese Danish individuals. This study showed for the first time that 2 groups of individuals can be distinguished in the population by the richness of gut microbiota. The latest results were published online in Nature today.
Obesity, known as "the modem civilized disease", is a leading preventable cause of death worldwide that ...
Relationship between the ozone depletion and the extreme precipitation in austral summer
2013-08-29
The new study by Prof. Sarah Kang from Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), showed that the ozone depletion over the South Pole has affected the extreme daily precipitation in the austral summer, for December, January, and February (DJF). This work was published in the journal Geophysical Research Letter. (Title: "Modeling evidence that ozone depletion has impacted extreme precipitation in the austral summer", Vol. 40, 1-6, doi:10.1002/grl.50796, 2013)
The ozone hole over the Antarctic has affected atmospheric circulation in the Southern Hemisphere ...
Clingy platelets suggest potential treatment strategy for rheumatoid arthritis
2013-08-29
Bethesda, MD—No one likes clingy people, but "clingy" blood platelets may offer hope for millions of people with rheumatoid arthritis. According to new research findings published in The Journal of Leukocyte Biology, a sub population of immune cells (lymphocytes) known to play a significant role in rheumatoid arthritis has platelets attached to their surface. Those attached platelets reduced the ability of the immune cells to cause disease by reducing their activity levels and ability to spread. This opens the door to new investigations into treatments that ultimately bind ...
Moderate physical activity does not increase risk of knee osteoarthritis
2013-08-29
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Adults age 45 and older who engaged in moderate physical activity up to two and a half hours a week did not increase their risk of developing knee osteoarthritis over a 6-year follow-up period, a new study finds.
Study participants who engaged in the highest levels of physical activity – up to 5 hours a week – did have a slightly higher risk of knee osteoarthritis, but the difference was not statistically significant.
Those findings taken together are good news, said Joanne Jordan, MD, MPH, senior study author and director of the Thurston Arthritis ...
Is war really disappearing? A new analysis suggests not
2013-08-29
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- While some researchers have claimed that war between nations is in decline, a new analysis suggests we shouldn't be too quick to celebrate a more peaceful world.
The study finds that there is no clear trend indicating that nations are less eager to wage war, said Bear Braumoeller, author of the study and associate professor of political science at The Ohio State University.
Conflict does appear to be less common than it had been in the past, he said. But that's due more to an inability to fight than to an unwillingness to do so.
"As empires fragment, ...
Lesbian and gay young people in England twice as likely to smoke and drink alcohol
2013-08-29
Young people who identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual are twice as likely to have smoked than their heterosexual peers, according to new research published in BMJ Open. Lesbian and gay young people were also more likely to drink alcohol frequently and more hazardously.
The interdisciplinary research team comprised researchers from five UK Universities (UCL, University of Cambridge, London Metropolitan University, De Montfort University Leicester and Brunel University), a doctor working in General Practice and a consultant from Public Health England.
The researchers ...
Cell study offers more diabetic patients chance of transplant
2013-08-29
Diabetic patients could benefit from a breakthrough that enables scientists to take cells from the pancreas and change their function to produce insulin.
The research could reduce waiting times for patients with Type 1 Diabetes who need islet cell transplants. These transplants are carried out to prevent life-threatening complications resulting from diabetes, such as seizures resulting from low blood sugar levels.
Islet cells -- which occur naturally in the pancreas -- produce insulin, which enables the body to store glucose. However, not enough of these cells can be ...
Cleveland Clinic researcher finds genetic mutation in castration-resistant prostate cancer
2013-08-29
AUG. 29, 2013, Cleveland:
The mutation occurs in the androgen-synthesizing enzyme 3βHSD1 in castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), according to research published online today in Cell. This mutation enables the tumor to make its own supply of androgens, a hormone that fuels the growth of the prostate cancer.
Prostate cancer requires a constant supply of androgens in order to sustain itself. The current standard of care for patients with metastatic prostate cancer is medical castration, the ability to interfere with the body's production of testosterone (androgens) ...
Rim Fire update Aug. 29, 2013
2013-08-29
Slowly but surely, the Rim Fire in California is being contained. Currently it is 30% contained. The fire has burned over 192,000 acres. The use of aircraft and water/chemical dumping on the fire has been instrumental in slowing/stopping blazes.
The update as of Aug. 29 from Inciweb.org is as follows: "Firefighters used aerial ignitions today to burnout Pilot Ridge on the southern portion of the fire. The burnout planned from Hetch Hetchy Reservoir south to Tioga Road in Yosemite National Park did not occur. Conditions were not conducive to lighting and containing ...