科技英语新闻:Seaweed may poison coral reefs: study
BEIJING, Oct. 18 (Xinhuanet) -- Some seaweeds can kill the reef-building corals around them by emitting anti-coral chemicals, a new study found.
The study was published Monday in the online edition of the journal Proceedings of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
The researchers investigated the interactions between eight different species of seaweed and three species of coral growing in the waters nearby the Fiji Islands, and identified a class of anti-coral organic compounds known as terpenes.
These chemicals, found on the surfaces of several species of seaweed, can kill the coral by suppressing its photosynthesis.
The finding suggests that the living space competition with seaweeds could be a factor of the coral's worldwide decline.
Plant-eating fish normally controls seaweed growth on coral reefs, but the populations of these consumers are declining by the overfishing, which eventually resulted in the seaweed's dominant position, according to the researchers.
Despite overfishing, pollution and warming oceans are also the contributors to coral's worldwide decline, said Jennifer Smith, a marine ecologist at the University of California, San Diego.
相关文章
- 英语文摘:China urges G7 to cease interfering in its internal affairs
- 英语文摘:HKSAR gov't strongly refutes G7, EU statements on chief executive election
- 英语文摘:Xi's keynote speech at opening ceremony of Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2022 publ
- 英语文摘:Xi attends ceremony marking centenary of Communist Youth League of China
- 英语文摘:Xi talks with Macron over phone
- 英语文摘:External interference in Hong Kong affairs doomed to be self-defeating: Commissioner's off
- 英语文摘:Chinese spokesperson slams Western countries smearing Hong Kong election
- 英语文摘:China calls for equal, balanced global development partnership
- 英语文摘:Xinhua Headlines: A look at younger generation on China's new journey
- 英语文摘:Chinese vice premier reiterates dynamic zero-COVID policy