Deep reef survey reveals 195 coral species

Scientists have identified 195 coral species among deep reefs in Australia's Great Barrier Reef. Earlier surveys revealed only 32 species.

According to the new research, published this week in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, roughly half of the coral species living in the Great Barrier Reef can be found among deep reefs.

Deeper reefs are better protected from bleaching events and sea surface heat waves, and the latest findings suggest the habitats could serve as an important sanctuary for species threatened by global warming.

Almost all coral lineages were found living among deep reefs, which suggests the habitats can also help conserve coral diversity.

Researchers with the Queensland Museum led expeditions of dozens of deep reefs, focusing primarily on corals living between 100 and 150 feet below the ocean surface.

As a recent report warned, the planet's corals face a variety of environmental threats, and current efforts to protect them remain insufficient.

But some coral reefs are likely to fare better than others, and scientists continue to find surprising levels of coral diversity among deep reefs. Earlier this year, scientists discovered a massive reef of the coast of South Carolina.

The deep Atlantic reef stretches more than 85 miles in length and was found nearly 2,000 feet beneath the surface of the ocean.

"Deeper reef areas are clearly more diverse than previously acknowledged and therefore deserve full consideration in our efforts to protect the world's coral reef biodiversity," researchers wrote in their new report on deep corals among the Great Barrier Reef.

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A glimmer of hope for the world's coral reefs
Brisbane, Australia (SPX) Dec 11, 2018
The future of the world's coral reefs is uncertain, as the impact of global heating continues to escalate. However, according to a study published in Nature Climate Change, the response of the Great Barrier Reef to extreme temperatures in 2017 was markedly different to one year earlier, following two back-to-back bouts of coral bleaching. Remarkably, corals that bleached and survived 2016 were more resistant in 2017 to a recurrence of hot conditions. "Dead corals don't bleach for a second time. Th ... read more