STUDY DOCUMENTS CORALS BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER OCTOBER 2009
EPISODE
New research by University of Georgia ecologists sheds light
on exactly what happens to coral during periods of excessively high water
temperatures. Their study, published in the journal Limnology and Oceanography,
documents a coral bleaching event in the Caribbean in minute detail and sheds
light on how it changed a coral's community of algae—a change that could have
long-term consequences for coral health, as bleaching is predicted to occur
more frequently in the future.