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coral reef
Trends
- 1Two million tyres turned Florida's artificial reef into an ecological disaster●On a site the size of 27 football fields, 2 million of these were dropped in the ocean to create an artificial reef – instead, it became a disaster
In the 1970s, around two million tyres were dumped across a seabed site the size of 27 football fields off Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in an attempt to build the world's largest artificial reef. The plan failed: the tyres did not attract coral, shifted in storms and crushed natural reef, prompting decades of costly removal efforts and serving as a warning against similar projects worldwide.
- 2Bacteria on coral reef fish gills carry chemosynthesis genes●DNA reveals chemosynthesis genes in bacteria living on coral reef fish gills
Researchers have found that bacteria living on the gills of coral reef fish carry genes for chemosynthesis, meaning they may be able to produce energy from chemicals rather than light. The discovery, reported by Phys.org, suggests fish gills could host microbial communities with an unusual metabolism, expanding what scientists know about where chemosynthetic microbes live.