Researchers may have been misled about the health of coral reefs by seaweed.
For years, scientists have been using seaweed to gauge the health of coral reefs. However, recent research by the University OF British Columbia has found that data derived from seaweed in the traditional way may be misleading and provide a false picture.
The scientists studied Macroalgae (an organism that includes seaweed) from more than 1,200 locations in the Indian and Pacific Oceans over the course of 16 years. The researchers were shocked to find that this approach yielded inaccurate data and could actually conceal signs of reef stress and problems in the reef systems. This is due to the fact that several species can still thrive in water polluted by various contaminants like agricultural runoff. At the same time, these pollutants devastate coral reefs’ health.
According to Dr. Sara Cannon, the study’s lead author and a postdoctoral fellow at the UBC Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, it’s vitally important that we derive high-quality data about the state of our reef ecosystems, so we can better monitor them and crucially intervene if signs of damage are detected.
You can find the original study here.
