 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Tsukuba, Japan (UPI) Jan 24, 2011 Some Pacific Ocean corals have migrated north -- and done it fast -- possibly in response to rising ocean temperatures, Japanese researchers say. Scientists of the National Institute for Environmental Studies in Tsukuba, Japan, analyzed maps of corals from four time periods starting in the 1930s and found that of nine common species, four had moved northward, and two species even went so far as to move out of the tropics to temperate waters, ScienceNews.org reported Monday. Marine biologists and fisherman have long suspected this northern migration was taking place. "There were eyewitness accounts of the occurrence, but the data wasn't so reliable," geographer Hiroya Yamano says. "Now we can show very solid evidence." The speed of the migration surprised the researchers. Some of the species studied by Yamano migrated as fast as 8.7 miles per year, and in the 80 years since the 1930s maps were published, the fastest have traveled nearly 700 miles. Placed alongside other studies that show land animals moving north as temperature rises, it's a strong possibility the corals in this study are moving to fight the heat, John Pandolfi, a marine biologist at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, says. Researchers will need to conduct studies on these mobile species in the lab to test whether temperature is truly the driving factor, he says.
Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links Water News - Science, Technology and Politics
CO2-Chomping Microbes Battling For Ocean IronCanberra, Australia (SPX) Jan 25, 2011 Australian, Belgian and New Zealand scientists have expanded our understanding of the way phyoplankton take up scarce iron in the ocean - a process that regulates ocean food chains from the bottom up and helps remove up to 40 per cent of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere. Research published recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science explores the relationship betw ... read more |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2010 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal 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. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
YahooMyWeb
Google
Facebook
