Scientists have discovered “tree rings” in coral-reef building algae that could show signs of impacts of climate change.
The Griffith University team made the find using state-of-the-art techniques in laboratories at the Griffith University Nathan campus, the Australian National University and the Australian Institute of Marine Science.
Similar to tree rings, skeletal banding can provide information on growth rate, age, and longevity, as well as records of past environmental conditions and the coralline algae’s growth responses to such changes.
Published in the journal PLOS One today (Thursday), the researchers show the rings for the first time in tropical reef building species from the Great Barrier Reef. The bands are created by changes in skeletal mineralogy and density, and reproductive structures.
“Variations in the spacing in between the bands may reflect a change in the environment. Understanding this could help us understand past or future climate change events and their impacts on the reef,” said
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