Scientists test Moreton Bay as coral 'lifeboat'

1:35 PM Sat 31 Jul 2010 GMT

'A new landscape, massive corals such as these have only come to dominate Moreton Bay’s reefs after European settlement. Branching corals, the major components of reefs worldwide, are no longer dominant in the Bay. Photo courtesy of Matt Lybolt.' ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies &copy Click Here to view large photo

An international team of scientists has been exploring Moreton Bay, close to Brisbane, as a possible 'lifeboat' to save corals from the Great Barrier Reef at risk of extermination under climate change. In a new research paper they say that corals have been able to survive and flourish in the Bay, which lies well to the south of the main GBR coral zones, during about half of the past 7000 years. Corals only cover about one per cent of the Moreton Bay area currently, and have clearly been adversely affected by clearing of the surrounding catchments and human activities on ...

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by ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies