Credit: Hagai Nativ

As a result of ocean warming, oxygen levels are predicted to decline by up to 7% by 2100. A trailblazing interdisciplinary and international study led by a team of scientists from the University of Haifa’s Charney School of Marine Sciences found a significant impact of oxygen depletion on the physiology and gene expression of corals over time. Coral reefs perform numerous important functions for marine ecosystems and human ecology. They provide a habitat for around 25% of all marine organisms and contribute to the biodiversity of the marine system. The study, published in the Frontiers in Marine Science, was led by Prof. Smadar Ben-Tabou de-Leon and Prof. Dan Tchernov (Department of Marine Biology), in collaboration with Dr. Eli Shemesh (DeepMed Lab), and scientists from the Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research Institute in Eilat, City University of New York and  Shandong University, China. |  READ MORE in NOCAMELS