SANTA BARBARA, Calif., June 12 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers say bacteria and algae are combining to kill coral -- and human activities are compounding the problem.
The University of California-Santa Barbara scientists have discovered an indirect microbial mechanism whereby bacteria kill coral with the help of algae. Human activities are contributing to the growth of algae on coral reefs, setting the stage for the long-term continued decline of coral.
Reporting in the on-line version of the scientific journal Ecology Letters, the researchers describe laboratory experiments on coral and algae.
First author Jennifer Smith, a postdoctoral fellow at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis at UC-Santa Barbara, says the team of scientists -- as part of a research expedition to the Line Islands -- put algae and coral in chambers of seawater with filters between them. All of the corals with neighboring algae died, while coral without neighboring algae did not die.
However, added Smith, with the addition of an antibiotic, coral death even in the presence of algae was prevented, showing that bacteria fed by the algae are the agents of coral death.
"We are the first to link these processes together," Smith said.
