Caribbean Coral Reef Protection Efforts Miss the Mark

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nsf.gov"Conservation efforts aimed at protecting endangered Caribbean corals may be overlooking regions where corals are best equipped to evolve in response to global warming and other climate challenges.

That's the take-home message of a paper published in this week's issue of the journal Science by researchers Ann Budd of the University of Iowa and John Pandolfi of the University of Queensland, Australia.

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Killer seaweed threatens corals

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msnbc.com: "Waving with the currents on the seafloor, a seaweed species that looks like tufts of bright-green grass is somewhat of an assassin, at least for nearby coral reefs, a new study suggests.

Its weapon of choice: natural chemicals.

The seaweed, called Chlorodesmis fastigiata, along with several common species of seaweeds in both the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean, can kill corals upon contact by releasing deadly chemicals."