Looking At Life From Both Sides NowOn a macro level, scientists have been studying the global declin
Looking At Life From Both Sides NowOn a macro level, scientists have been studying the global decline of coral reefs for years. Now, because of the new, high-tech design of a microscope, they can observe microscopic processes that were previously difficult to study because specimens had to be taken into the lab, out of their natural habitats, in order to do so.The device, known as the Benthic Underwater Microscope, was originally designed by the Scripps Oceanographic Institute in San Diego to study plankton. Modifications were made to enable the scope to be used to observe damage to coral reefs due to global climate change, pollution, etc. With a flexible lens made of a fluid-filled membrane, adjustments can be made to the shape of the lens electrically. A ring of LEDs enables the polyps to be observed in situ, under a variety of different types of light, from white light to fluorescent. Why build such a specialized instrument?93% of the Great Barrier Reef, which is large enough to be seen from space, has undergone coral bleaching and a full third of it has died. Healthy corals have a symbiotic relationship with algae that live within the coral polyps. When the corals become over-stressed due to changes in temperature, light, water chemistry, or nutrient levels, the polyps eject the algae and the coral is left bone white. This is coral bleaching.Like terrestrial rainforests (which hold an estimated quarter of the world’s land species) coral reefs contain around 25% of total marine life. Loss of the reefs will devastate ocean ecosystems and even if marine conditions were to improve immediately, it will still take a century for the coral reefs to regrow.With the use of the new microscope (which can be operated by a single diver), really small-scale interactions can be observed in underwater ecosystems, in existing conditions. Currently, only two of the microscopes exist, but these are generously loaned out to scientists around the world.CWImage: http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-36785883Source:http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-36785883http://to.pbs.org/29EJcazhttp://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/coral_bleach.html -- source link
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