Science
Photo by Ryan Pernofski
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Our 2022 Impact: Protecting Coral Reefs that Can Adapt to Climate Change
Could a map be used to estimate the likelihood that a coral reef can adapt to climate change? That’s one of the biggest questions driving our Global Conservation Science team these days. In collaboration with the Allen Coral Atlas (the Atlas), a global map and monitoring system for shallow water coral reefs, we are leading
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The Allen Coral Atlas Introduces the First Comprehensive Map of Shallow Water Coral Reefs
On September 8, 2021, it was officially announced that a comprehensive map and monitoring system of the world’s shallow water coral reefs, the Allen Coral Atlas, was completed. This tremendous effort was led by Arizona State University in collaboration with scientists, universities, private entities, and NGOs across the globe—including the Coral Reef Alliance. The tool
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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 Cleaner Water Mean Farewell for Coral Disease?
Lea esto en español When improperly treated sewage enters the marine environment, it can have devastating effects on a coral reef. Not only does it bring bacteria that can pose a threat to human health, but it also brings nutrients that fuel the growth of algae—a fierce competitor in the coral reef ecosystem. Algae compete
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Making the Case for a Biological Corridor
In 2018, a law passed that opened up parts of the Honduran North Coast to commercial fishing—prior, only artisanal fishers were able to fish within certain areas. While some of the coastline lies within marine protected areas (MPAs), we suspected that fish populations along the coastline were all connected. If the MPAs weren’t somehow connected,
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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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CORAL Partners with Allen Coral Atlas
We’re incredibly excited to announce that we just received a new $850,000, three-year grant from the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation to support facilitating a global network to monitor coral bleaching and water quality threat alerts from the Allen Coral Atlas. A new partner of ours, the Atlas is a collaboration of scientists and researchers