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    How seaweed has been misleading scientists about reef health    
      
     Date:   
         May 4, 2023   
     Source:   
         University of British Columbia   
     Summary:   
         For decades, scientists have used the amount of seaweed at   
         the ocean's surface as a proxy for the health of coral reefs   
         below. However, a new global study of more than 1,200 marine   
         locations over a 16-year period reveals that this approach has   
         been misleading -- and may even have hidden signs of reef stress.   
      
      
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   FULL STORY   
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   For decades, scientists have looked to seaweed as an indicator of the   
   health of coral reefs lying underneath.   
      
   But what if the seaweed was misleading them?  New UBC research reveals   
   it was, and scientists need new ways to determine whether human activity   
   is harming a particular reef.   
      
   "This is especially critical today, given that reefs globally are   
   threatened by climate-driven stressors," said Dr. Sara Cannon, a   
   postdoctoral fellow at the UBC Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries   
   and the study's lead author.   
      
   Local species behave differently Seaweed belongs to a group of organisms   
   called macroalgae. Macroalgae at the ocean's surface has long served   
   as a proxy for reef health, because it is relatively quick and easy to   
   measure. Since the 1970s, scientists have assumed that local human impacts   
   increase macroalgae while simultaneously damaging underlying reefs.   
      
   However, the study just published in Global Change Biology looked at data   
   from over 1,200 sites in the Indian and Pacific Oceans over a 16-year   
   period and revealed that this approach is misleading and may even have   
   hidden signs of reef stress.   
      
   For example, macroalgae coverage depends heavily on the species growing in   
   a particular area. Sargassum is less likely to grow in water contaminated   
   by agricultural runoff, but Halimeda will thrive. In both cases, a reef   
   will suffer.   
      
   The global research team concluded that using macroalgae coverage as   
   an indicator of local human impacts can actually obscure how much our   
   actions are harming reefs, and cause scientists to misidentify the reefs   
   most in need of intervention.   
      
       * RELATED_TOPICS   
             o Plants_&_Animals   
                   # Nature # Marine_Biology # Extinction # New_Species   
             o Earth_&_Climate   
                   # Coral_Reefs # Ecology # Global_Warming #   
                   Environmental_Awareness   
       * RELATED_TERMS   
             o Coral_reef o Artificial_reef o   
             Temperature_record_of_the_past_1000_years o Great_Barrier_Reef   
             o Coral o Coral_bleaching o Paleoclimatology o Dinoflagellate   
      
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   Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_British_Columbia. Note:   
   Content may be edited for style and length.   
      
      
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   Journal Reference:   
      1. Sara E. Cannon, Simon D. Donner, Angela Liu, Pedro C. Gonza'lez   
      Espinosa,   
         Andrew H. Baird, Julia K. Baum, Andrew G. Bauman, Maria Beger,   
         Cassandra E. Benkwitt, Matthew J. Birt, Yannick Chancerelle, Joshua   
         E. Cinner, Nicole L. Crane, Vianney Denis, Martial Depczynski,   
         Nur Fadli, Douglas Fenner, Christopher J. Fulton, Yimnang   
         Golbuu, Nicholas A. J. Graham, James Guest, Hugo B. Harrison,   
         Jean‐Paul A. Hobbs, Andrew S. Hoey, Thomas H. Holmes, Peter   
         Houk, Fraser A. Januchowski‐Hartley, Jamaluddin Jompa,   
         Chao‐Yang Kuo, Gino Valentino Limmon, Yuting V.   
      
         Lin, Timothy R. McClanahan, Dominic Muenzel, Michelle J. Paddack,   
         Serge Planes, Morgan S. Pratchett, Ben Radford, James Davis Reimer,   
         Zoe T.   
      
         Richards, Claire L. Ross, John Rulmal, Brigitte Sommer, Gareth J.   
      
         Williams, Shaun K. Wilson. Macroalgae exhibit diverse responses   
         to human disturbances on coral reefs. Global Change Biology, 2023;   
         DOI: 10.1111/ gcb.16694   
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   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/05/230504121006.htm   
      
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