Protozoa Aid in Reef Resilience

As the world gets warmer and sea levels rise scientists are trying to figure out how mother nature is regulating some of these changes. A team of researchers from the University of Bonn in Germany have been studying the proliferation of Foraminifera (of the kingdom Protista) on reefs throughout the world. These microscopic single-celled and calcite shelled organisms “produce up to two kilograms of calcium carbonate per square meter of ocean floor. This often makes them, after corals, the most important producers of sediment in tropical reef areas.” said Prof. Dr. Martin Langer from the Steinmann-Institut für Geologie, Mineralogie und Paläontologie at the University of Bonn.  In some cases Foraminifera are no larger than a grain of sand and are usually found inhabiting benthic areas (lower parts of the reef semi-void of oxygen) but the teams findings suggest a stronger role: “Amphisteginids and other foraminifera are increasingly taking over calcium carbonate production from corals, thus occupying their ecological niche. This is a role reversal in process,” states Professor Langer. Using biogeographic terrain analysis the team was able to develop a distribution model which forecasts the dispersal of Foraminifera 1.6 degrees of latitude closer to the poles of earth over the next 80 years. “Our models are forecasting rates of spread of up to eight kilometers per year,” says doctoral student Anna Weinmann from the Steinmann-Institut at the University of Bonn. Shadowing the rates by which corals spread the findings produced by Prof. Langer and his team have suggested these protozoa will continue to proliferate and increase reef resilience throughout the coming years. Read more here!