Scientists Rethink Coral Reef Health Indicators

Seaweed is one of the proxies frequently used by marine biologists to assess reef health -But a new study questions this, suggesting that seaweed’s behaviour isn’t uniform enough to use it as a simple measure.“This is especially critical today, given that reefs globally are threatened by climate-driven stressors,” says Dr Sara Cannon, a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, University of British Columbia, Canada.