Nature & Environment
Increased Amount of Fleshy Algae Break Coral Reefs' Food Chain
Johnson Denise
First Posted: Apr 27, 2016 06:55 AM EDT
While people have their homes to protect them from Earthly elements, marine creatures have coral reefs to make sure they stay protected. Coral reefs are known as the world's most productive and diverse ecosystem, and solely rely on recycling programs to stay healthy. However, a recent study probed how a process called "microbialization" breaks a link in coral reef's food chain.
The coral reefs and algae that form the base of the reef's food web release different kinds of nutrients that support a complex and efficient food chain. But when this system gets out of hand, this cycle breaks down and endangers the coral reef's condition.
According to phys.org, there are millions of people across the globe that depends on coral reefs to provide productive fisheries. However, when these people over fish in waters near the reefs, the primary algae-eaters disappear that will allow the number of fleshy algae to increase. In places where pollution is rampant, this problem worsens by stimulation of these algae.
Fleshy algae on reefs release heavy amounts of nutrients known as dissolved organic carbon (DOC) which eats microbes. Marine experts created a theory that when you have a lot of algae producing food for microbes, you also end up with higher levels of microbes that may be harmful to the reef's ecosystem.
As these reefs are infested by fleshy algae, "most of the energy in the ecosystem goes into the microbes," said the study's lead author, Andreas F. Haas, a biologist at SDSU. "It no longer supports the variety of reef organisms which make up a healthy system anymore." Haas and co-author Mohamed F.M. Fairoz of the Ocean University of Sri Lanka, along with their colleagues, went to test out their theory by collecting more than 400 water samples from 60 coral reef sites across the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans, Science Daily reported.
They then tested samples they collected for any "microbialization" of algae-infested reefs worldwide. The first thing they did is to analyze an amount of microbes throughout all their samples. They found out that their hypotheses were right after results show that reef sites with higher algal cover also had microbes. They also found out that in areas where algae are abundant, the microbes are more likely to shelter harmful pathogens.
They have also found that this pattern can also affect the ocean carbon cycle. One of the predictions made by the model stated that because of a large amount of microbes fostered by algal growth, they strip the reef off of DOC and restrict the transfer of organic material to other marine creatures.
Sure enough, Haas and his team found that in reefs with high algal cover, such as the island of Kiritimati in the central Pacific Ocean, DOC concentrations were very low; whereas, in reefs with low algal cover, such as the Kingman reef in the North Pacific Ocean, DOC was higher.
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First Posted: Apr 27, 2016 06:55 AM EDT
While people have their homes to protect them from Earthly elements, marine creatures have coral reefs to make sure they stay protected. Coral reefs are known as the world's most productive and diverse ecosystem, and solely rely on recycling programs to stay healthy. However, a recent study probed how a process called "microbialization" breaks a link in coral reef's food chain.
The coral reefs and algae that form the base of the reef's food web release different kinds of nutrients that support a complex and efficient food chain. But when this system gets out of hand, this cycle breaks down and endangers the coral reef's condition.
According to phys.org, there are millions of people across the globe that depends on coral reefs to provide productive fisheries. However, when these people over fish in waters near the reefs, the primary algae-eaters disappear that will allow the number of fleshy algae to increase. In places where pollution is rampant, this problem worsens by stimulation of these algae.
Fleshy algae on reefs release heavy amounts of nutrients known as dissolved organic carbon (DOC) which eats microbes. Marine experts created a theory that when you have a lot of algae producing food for microbes, you also end up with higher levels of microbes that may be harmful to the reef's ecosystem.
As these reefs are infested by fleshy algae, "most of the energy in the ecosystem goes into the microbes," said the study's lead author, Andreas F. Haas, a biologist at SDSU. "It no longer supports the variety of reef organisms which make up a healthy system anymore." Haas and co-author Mohamed F.M. Fairoz of the Ocean University of Sri Lanka, along with their colleagues, went to test out their theory by collecting more than 400 water samples from 60 coral reef sites across the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans, Science Daily reported.
They then tested samples they collected for any "microbialization" of algae-infested reefs worldwide. The first thing they did is to analyze an amount of microbes throughout all their samples. They found out that their hypotheses were right after results show that reef sites with higher algal cover also had microbes. They also found out that in areas where algae are abundant, the microbes are more likely to shelter harmful pathogens.
They have also found that this pattern can also affect the ocean carbon cycle. One of the predictions made by the model stated that because of a large amount of microbes fostered by algal growth, they strip the reef off of DOC and restrict the transfer of organic material to other marine creatures.
Sure enough, Haas and his team found that in reefs with high algal cover, such as the island of Kiritimati in the central Pacific Ocean, DOC concentrations were very low; whereas, in reefs with low algal cover, such as the Kingman reef in the North Pacific Ocean, DOC was higher.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone