Conservation Science
Photo by Ryan Pernofski
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New Research Turns Basic Ecological Theory on its Head
In a lot of ways, corals are like trees—they stay rooted in one spot their whole lives, and they disperse their young into the environment. With many trees, their young typically fall to the ground and stay relatively close. But with corals, their young are moved by ocean currents that can carry them thousands of…
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Uniting A Global Coral Bleaching Response Network
Coral bleaching events make headlines every year. And each year, bleaching events have become more frequent and severe. Take Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, for example: In the last five years, the reef has been hit by three record-breaking coral bleaching events—one in 2016, one in 2017 and another in 2020. But the Allen Coral Atlas…
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Cordelia Banks, a site that offers hope to the Mesoamerican Reef
This article is translated from the original article written in Spanish by MAR Fund. Written By Lucy Calderón, Communications Intern at MAR Fund, and Translated by Centro Oxford Popularly known as staghorn corals, due to the similarity of their structure with that of the antler of the mammal in question, the Acropora cervicornis corals are…
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Could satellite-based technology save coral reefs?
Atlases and maps are helpful for planning trips and exploring geography, but researchers believe they may also serve another, more important purpose: Identifying priority coral reef conservation areas. With a new three-year $300,000 grant from Lyda Hill Philanthropies, the Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL) and partners can begin to test their hypothesis that satellite-based imagery and…
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Aquaculture: An Alternative to Overfishing in Honduras
Lea esto en español Could aquaponics and aquaculture be a sustainable alternative to overfishing? According to Julio San Martin Chicas, our Principal Program Coordinator in Tela Bay, Honduras, the answer is yes: If specific fish can be adequately and competitively farmed using small-scale aquaculture, then we can alleviate fishing pressure on the reef. Aquaculture refers…
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Partnering for Change to Save Coral Reefs
By Dr. Madhavi Colton At CORAL, our mission is Saving the World’s Coral Reefs. That means finding a solution to the biggest threat facing corals today- climate change. Troubled by warming ocean temperatures and mass coral bleaching events, we launched the Modeling Adaptation Potential (MAP) Project in 2016 to ask a critical question: Can…
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Breaking Study Finds Adaptation Is Possible (& Not Optional) for Coral Reefs
The future of coral reefs doesn’t have to be a death sentence. A groundbreaking study from the Coral Reef Alliance proves what we’ve long believed: when conservation strategies embrace evolution, coral reefs have a fighting chance in a warming world. Published in a peer-reviewed journal, the study—Management for network diversity speeds evolutionary adaptation to climate…
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Approaches to Coral Reef Conservation
Over the past few years, there’s been a steady increase and interest in a number of coral conservation activities that fall into the broad category of restoration. These include coral gardening, breeding corals in tanks and transplanting them onto reefs and growing corals on artificial reef structures in the water. At the Coral Reef Alliance…
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Sunscreen and Corals
For many of us, coral reefs are vacation destinations; places we feel lucky to visit. We plan our trip and packing lists carefully, and bring clothes and sunscreens to protect our skin from the intensity of the equatorial sun, but as we reported in January, sunscreen is not as safe for corals as we once…