Re:Coral makes comeback on Great Barrier Reef
by BariumBlue on Thursday August 04, 2022 @08:33PM
(#32350100)
I wonder if, like forests, corals tend to colonize an area first with fast growing species, which then get slowly replaced by longer lived species (forest succession). I understand that it takes a while for a forest to go from clean-field to a fully matured forest though.
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Re:Coral makes comeback on Great Barrier Reef
by h0l0cube on Thursday August 04, 2022 @09:05PM
(#32350272)
As with the loss of old-growth forests that's happening today, we risk species loss, and hence biodiversity. Re-population is predicated on an extant population, a return to suitable conditions, and for the pioneer species to die off. The problem is that, in sustained adverse conditions, the pioneer species may outlive the surviving population of the threatened species.
Re:Coral makes comeback on Great Barrier Reef
by ggm on Thursday August 04, 2022 @09:21PM
(#32350363)
The faster growing kind is highly susceptible to the crown of thorns starfish so this causes a cycle of explosive growth in the starfish population, which in turn kills the coral it feeds off.
Re:Coral makes comeback on Great Barrier Reef
by jrslv on Friday August 05, 2022 @10:14AM
(#32356371)
Yes, the branching corals are the fast-growing early colonisers. The habitat they create is attractive for fish and invertebrates. Together they make up a reef ecosystem. The resilient reef-building massive corals typically appear on the reef later and grow much slower.