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There is now a CONTENT FREEZE for Mercury while we switch to a new platform. It began on Friday, March 10 at 6pm and will end on Wednesday, March 15 at noon. No new content can be created during this time, but all material in the system as of the beginning of the freeze will be migrated to the new platform, including users and groups. Functionally the new site is identical to the old one. webteam@gatech.edu
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That corals around the world are dying under an onslaught of various human activities is nothing new, and a number of conservation efforts have been underway for decades now. But small marine protected areas (MPAs) that have been established to allow coral reefs and associated fish species to recover from the ravages of overfishing could actually be, unwittingly, making things worse, a study found. Using the example of an MPA in Fiji Islands, Mark Hay, one of the two authors of the study and a professor at Georgia Institute of technology, said in a statement Monday: “The marine protected areas that are enforced in the Fiji Islands are having a remarkable effect. The corals and fishes are recovering. But once these marine protected areas are successful, they attract the sea stars which can make the small marine protected areas victims of their own success.”
