October 11, 2019
sprep-pa
Reef-building corals can make unexpected recoveries from climate change-induced destruction. It turns out that some corals only look dead when exposed to unusually warm water. Instead, the coral’s polyps shrink and retreat into their hard skeleton, making the reef appear dead, before recolonising the skeleton when conditions are better. It is a survival strategy never seen before in today’s corals – but it may not help the corals as the climate continues to change.
