. 24/7 Space News .
WATER WORLD
Half a trillion corals: world-first coral count prompts rethink of extinction risks
by Staff Writers
Cairns, Australia (SPX) Mar 03, 2021

An Acroporid coral in the Coral Sea.

For the first time, scientists have assessed how many corals there are in the Pacific Ocean - and evaluated their risk of extinction.

While the answer to "how many coral species are there?" is 'Googleable', until now scientists didn't know how many individual coral colonies there are in the world.

"In the Pacific, we estimate there are roughly half a trillion corals," said the study lead author, Dr Andy Dietzel from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University (Coral CoE at JCU).

"This is about the same number of trees in the Amazon, or birds in the world."

The results are crucial for the research and conservation of corals and coral reefs as they decline across the world due to the effects of climate change.

"We need to know the abundance of a species to assess its risk of extinction," Dr Dietzel said. "However, there is very little data on most of Earth's wild animal and plant species - not just corals."

Dr Dietzel said the eight most common coral species in the region each have a population size greater than the 7.8 billion people on Earth.

The findings suggest that while a local loss of coral can be devastating to coral reefs, the global extinction risk of most coral species is lower than previously estimated.

Extinctions could instead unfold over a much longer timeframe because of the broad geographic ranges and huge population sizes of many coral species.

Co-author Professor Sean Connolly, from Coral CoE at JCU and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, said the study's new analysis of the 80 species considered by the IUCN to have an elevated extinction risk shows that 12 of those species have estimated population sizes of more than one billion colonies.

"As an example, the finger-coral, Porites nigrescens, ranks amongst the ten most abundant species we examined. It's also not considered to be highly susceptible to coral bleaching - yet it is currently listed by IUCN as vulnerable to global extinction," Prof Connolly said.

Co-author Professor Michael Bode from Coral CoE at JCU and the Queensland University of Technology said, "One third of the rarest species in our analysis - covering the bottom ten percent of species abundances - are nonetheless listed by the IUCN as being of Least Concern."

The study measured the population sizes of more than 300 individual coral species on reefs across the Pacific Ocean, from Indonesia to French Polynesia. The scientists used a combination of coral reef habitat maps and counts of coral colonies to estimate species abundances.

Co-author Professor Terry Hughes from Coral CoE at JCU said the study results have major implications for managing and restoring coral reefs.

"We counted an average of 30 corals per square metre of reef habitat. This translates into tens of billions of corals on the Great Barrier Reef - even after recent losses from climate extremes," Prof Hughes said.

"Coral restoration is not the solution to climate change. You would have to grow about 250 million adult corals to increase coral cover on the Great Barrier Reef by just one percent."

He said the study highlights the opportunity for action to mitigate the threats to reef species - and well before climate change causes global extinctions - to make an eventual recovery of reef coral assemblages possible.

"The challenge now is to protect wild populations of corals, because we could never replace more than a tiny percentage of them. Prevention is better than cure," Prof Hughes said.

"Given the huge size of these coral populations, it is very unlikely that they face imminent extinction. There is still time to protect them from anthropogenic heating, but only if we act quickly on reducing greenhouse gas emissions."

Research Report: "The population sizes and global extinction risk of reef-building coral species at biogeographic scales"


Related Links
ARC Centre Of Excellence For Coral Reef Studies
Water News - Science, Technology and Politics


Thanks for being there;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5+ Billed Monthly


paypal only
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal


WATER WORLD
Study: Gulf Stream System is the weakest it's been in 1,000 years
Washington DC (UPI) Feb 25, 2021
It's been over a millennium since the Gulf Stream System was as weak as it is today. According to a new study, published Thursday in the journal Nature Geoscience, the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or Gulf Stream System, has slowed significantly over the last several decades. Authors of the new study warn the slowdown could disrupt weather patterns across North America and Europe. "The Gulf Stream System works like a giant conveyor belt, carrying warm surface water ... read more

Comment using your Disqus, Facebook, Google or Twitter login.



Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

WATER WORLD
NASA, Boeing update Starliner orbital flight test date

Astronautics training for space professionals

Cygnus resupply ship bolted to ISS Unity Module

NASA's Perseverance rover beams back spectacular new images

WATER WORLD
Benchmark Space Systems and Orbit Fab Breaking Ground on Mobile Refueling Stations in Space

NASA delays new test-firing of moon rocket

Russia plans at least 10 launches from Baikonur in 2021

DLR ready to test first upper stage for Ariane 6

WATER WORLD
Martian moons have a common ancestor

Tianwen 1 probe enters preset parking orbit

Life from Earth could temporarily survive on Mars

NASA's Mars Perseverance Rover Provides Front-Row Seat to Landing, First Audio Recording of Red Planet

WATER WORLD
China explores space with self-reliance, open mind

China begins assembly of Long March 5B to launch space station core

Xi lauds China's progress in space missions

Chinese tracking vessel sets sail for monitoring missions in Indian Ocean

WATER WORLD
SpaceX plans 20th Starlink launch Sunday evening from Florida

'Space Bridge' across the world will help UK and Australia get ahead in global space race

Business support scheme to boost UK space industry has lift off

Advanced Manufacturing Supercluster Funds Deployment Of Flexible Automation Solutions

WATER WORLD
Polymer film protects from electromagnetic radiation, signal interference

Researchers grow artificial hairs with clever physics trick

Brand new findings on fire safety in space

Engineering the boundary between 2D and 3D materials

WATER WORLD
Microbes deep beneath seafloor survive on byproducts of radioactive process

Big galaxies steal star-forming gas from their smaller neighbours

The Milky Way may be swarming with planets with oceans and continents like here on Earth

On the quest for other Earths

WATER WORLD
Solar system's most distant planetoid confirmed

Peering at the Surface of a Nearby Moon

A Hot Spot on Jupiter

The 15th Anniversary of New Horizons Leaving Earth









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.