• Diverse coral reef yields many new species despite threat of silver mine

    Jim Thomas

    A new species of nudibranch discovered in Madang Lagoon, Papua New Guinea.

    By Becky Oskin
    LiveScience

    A vast array of new species was recently discovered in the world's most spectacular reef you've never heard of -- Madang Lagoon in Papua New Guinea.

    "It is the most diverse reef in the world," said marine biologist Jim Thomas, a researcher at Nova Southeastern University's National Coral Reef Institute in Hollywood, Fla.

    Madang Lagoon is also one of the world's most threatened coral reefs, Thomas added, imperiled by nearby industry. A World Bank-sponsored tuna cannery opened recently, drawing tiger sharks attracted to offal dumped offshore. Another 10 canneries are planned, Thomas said. Along the Ramu River, which drains into the lagoon, a massive nickel mine just started operation. The mining company dumps its sludge a mile offshore, but Thomas is concerned the sediment could contaminate the lagoon.

    "It's getting ready to be severely impacted," Thomas told OurAmazingPlanet.

    Jim Thomas

    A new amphipod species from Madang Lagoon. The tiny, shrimp-like creature lives inside a clam.

    An international team surveyed Madang Lagoon's coral reefs in December 2012, to document changes since the last survey 20 years ago and provide a baseline for any changes due to development. Biologist Philippe Bouchet of the Natural History Museum in Paris led a lagoonwide survey, while Thomas and his colleagues returned to the site of their expedition in the 1990s.

    The good news is that despite the ensuing development, the reef is as diverse as it was 20 years ago, Thomas said. In fact, both teams found new marine creatures.

    Because they revisited the same sites, Thomas' team, which searched for invertebrates, knew right off they had discovered new species, he said. These include amphipods, tiny shrimplike creatures that live inside sponges and clams, and fernlike crinoids, which grip the coral. A new pink nudibranch, a snail without a shell, was also found. The French group also documented a wide array of new species, which await publication in scientific journals.

    Though the invertebrates monitored at Madang Lagoon aren't as photogenic as flashy fish, the species are important indicators of reef health and biodiversity, Thomas said. "When an impact hits a reef, these species are the first to disappear, while coral may take five, 10, 15 years," he explained. "Most of the time, when something bad happens, by the time it hits the coral it's too late."

    Jim Thomas

    This new crinoid species was discovered in Madang Lagoon.

    Thomas thinks Madang Lagoon acquired its species diversitythough its unusual geologic setting. The lagoon sits on the northern coast of Papua New Guinea, an island roughly the size of California, where two of Earth's tectonic plates collide. As the Pacific plate slammed volcanic islands into Papua New Guinea over the millennia, species hitching a ride added to the diversity.

    The researchers hope local clans that own the lagoon will use the species survey to protect the reef against the effects of development. "These multinational companies can overwhelm landowners, and they really have no recourse," Thomas said.

    Reach Becky Oskin at boskin@techmedianetwork.com. Follow her on Twitter @beckyoskin. Follow OurAmazingPlanet on Twitter @OAPlanet. We're also on Facebook and Google+.

    Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

  • Electrified cages jolt coral reef survival

    YouTube

    Metallic structures with a low level electric current provoke limestone formations that attract coral growth. The technology is proving effective at restoring reefs around the world, including Bali.

    By John Roach, Contributing Writer, NBC News

    A low-level electric current running through domed-shaped metallic structures in the waters off Bali is giving a jolt to coral reef survival there, according to news reports.

    The Biorock technology is seen by some conservationists as a means to repair coral reefs damaged by years of destructive cyanide and dynamite fishing practices, as well as steadily warming oceans.

    Warming oceans are a threat to the reefs since they result in more frequent episodes of coral bleaching, a phenomenon when higher temperatures cause photosynthetic algae that provide corals with food and color to leave, turning the corals white.

    Without food for a sustained period of time, the corals will die. A coral bleaching event in 1998 killed one sixth of the world's tropical reefs. 

    Biorock technology builds from the late German marine architect Wolf Hibertz's discovery in the 1970s that electrified metallic structures cause dissolved minerals in the water to crystallize on them.

    This grows "into a white limestone similar to that which naturally makes up coral reefs and tropical white sand beaches," the Global Coral Reef Alliance explains.  

    Marine life including corals and oysters colonize this limestone.

    "Corals grow two to six times faster. We are able to grow back reefs in a few years," Thomas J. Goreau, a marine biologist who is leading the development of the technology, told AFP.

    Goreau is president of the Global Coral Reef Alliance, a U.S.-based non-profit dedicated to the protection, preservation, and sustainable management of coral reefs. 

    Bali success
    The alliance today works with organizations around the world to implement the Biorock technology, including a 20-year-long project in Pemuteran Bay off the north coast of Bali.

    Today there are about 60 of the electrified metallic cages in the bay, creating a coral reef there that is "flourishing better than ever before," AFP reports.

    What's more, researchers overseeing the project say that the Biorock technology makes the corals more resistant to global warming.

    "Biorock is the only method known that protects corals from dying from high temperatures. We get from 16 to 50 times higher survival of corals from severe bleaching," Goreau told AFP.

    These restored reefs in turn attract fish and tourists.

    Technology limits?
    While the technology is useful for small areas, the scale of coral bleaching is just too large for it to be a cost-effective solution, Rod Salm, a coral reef specialist with The Nature Conservancy, told the Associated Press in a 2007 story about Biorock technology.

    A more effective method of saving reefs from mass coral bleaching may be large marine protected areas that offer plenty of shade and cooler waters for the reefs, Salm noted in a 2010 blog post for Nature.

    But at the small scale, at least, Goreau argues that Biorock is more cost-effective than other solutions. For example, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recently touted the successful recovery of 376 square feet of coral in Florida that was damaged when a boat ran aground in 2002. 

    With $56,671 in settlement funds, the government agency attached corals to a special cement that hardens underwater. By 2010, the restored reef was healthier than an adjacent undamaged section.

    Goreau issued a press release countering the agency's success story saying that his Biorock technology is more cost effective. Based on the settlement funds used for the restoration, the government project cost $1,622 per square foot. Biorock technology can be used to grow six foot tall reef structures for $13 to $20 per square foot, he claims.

    The technology will be featured in One Day on Earth, a television program sponsored by the United Nations, in early 2012. You can check it out in the video below.

    11/11/11 ONE DAY IN PEMUTERAN BAY BALI from Rani E. Morrow-Wuigk on Vimeo.

    More on coral reef damage and restoration:

    John Roach is a contributing writer for msnbc.com. To learn more about him, check out his website. For more of our Future of Technology series, watch the featured video below.

    A five-thousand-year-old material gets new life and super strength thanks to new technology. From the 103rd story of the Willis Tower in Chicago to Apple's future headquarters to a Corning research lab, we see how tough glass can get while maintaining its timeless beauty.