Coral Reef Refuge Areas

It is no secret that coral reefs around the globe are at a very high risk of being damaged and/or destroyed due to rapid climate change and overfishing. In an article that can be found here, there are efforts being made to find areas of the ocean where reefs and the species that are found in them can take refuge and revitalize themselves regardless of the inevitable climate change that is happening.
This is a picture of the reefs of Northern Mozambique.
Source: http://www.scubamozambique.com/images/content/images/colourfulreef1.jpg

In this specific article, the ocean of Northern Mozambique have been found to be able to support systems that are in need of a place to thrive due to their original home being altered by either rising ocean temperatures or over fishing. The waters in this area are cool enough for the species to live but also have enough light that the plants need to thrive. There is a lot of environmental variability in this area as long as the populations of different species stay at a viable level. An example of the article was that there needs to be a certain number of predator fish such as trigger fish because they eat sea urchins and if there are too many sea urchins, that can be damaging to the reefs themselves.
The secret to healthy reefs is balance and that is what the scientists that are working of these refuge areas in Mozambique are really striving towards.


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