A UNC professor has co-authored a recently published study that shows protected coral reefs have been prominently affected by rising ocean temperatures.
The study, which was published in the Global Change Biology journal, was conducted by Conservation International scientists, UNC scientists and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Elizabeth Selig, a conservation scientist with Conservation International, was the lead author of the study. Kenneth S. Casey, satellite oceanographer and technical director of NOAA’s National Oceanographic Data Center, and John Bruno, associate professor of biology at UNC, also contributed to the study.
The study found that although special conversation zones known as marine protected areas provide benefits to fisheries and coral reefs, they offer limited help to corals in the battle against global warming.
