Back to the RadioSpace™ home page
NewsDirect story topics:
Consumer, Business & General Interest
Current Events & Public Affairs
Entertainment & Sports
Health & Medicine
"Discovery Files" Features from the National Science Foundation
"Reef Savers"
Fully produced report in MP3 format:
48 kbps |
96 kbps
(90 seconds)
-- How Will You Use This Story? --
READER SCRIPT
(DOES NOT FULLY MATCH AUDIO)
WHERE'S THE REEF? THE "DISCOVERY FILES": NEW ADVANCES IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, FROM THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION. CORAL REEFS--VITAL, COMPLEX ECOSYSTEMS THAT SUPPORT COUNTLESS UNDERWATER SPECIES--NOW NEED OUR SUPPORT. ONE-THIRD OF THE WORLD'S REEFS HAVE ALREADY BEEN DESTROYED--AND FACTORS LIKE GLOBAL WARMING THREATEN EVEN MORE LOSS. TO HELP STEM THE TIDE, A GROUP OF SCIENTISTS LED BY THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY'S "CENTER FOR BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION" RECENTLY DEMONSTRATED THE BENEFITS OF MARINE RESERVES. THESE SAFE HAVENS GIVE THE REEFS AND THE ECOSYSTEM A FIGHTING CHANCE TO RECOVER--SORT OF, "REEF REHAB". AT EXUMA CAYS LAND AND SEA PARK, IN THE BAHAMAS, THE RESEARCH TEAM FOUND THAT THE NUMBER OF CORALS DOUBLED IN AREAS PROTECTED FROM HUMAN ACTIVITY SUCH AS FISHING OR PROSPECTING. WHEN NATIVE FISH SPECIES ARE LEFT TO DO THEIR OWN THING, THE REEFS CAN HEAL THEMSELVES. OF PARTICULAR INTEREST TO THE GROUP IS THE PARROTFISH: STUNNINGLY BEAUTIFUL, IT LOVES TO DINE ON HARMFUL ALGAE--PROMOTING A BETTER CORAL-GROWING ENVIRONMENT. THIS IS THE FIRST EVIDENCE THAT MARINE RESERVES COULD BE A REAL "CORAL SALVATION". SOMETIMES, THE BEST THING THAT WE CAN DO TO HELP NATURE IS TO JUST LEAVE IT ALONE. THE "DISCOVERY FILES" COVERS PROJECTS FUNDED BY THE GOVERNMENT'S NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION: FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH BROUGHT TO YOU BY YOU! LEARN MORE AT "N-S-F"-DOT-GOV--OR ON THEIR PODCAST.
For additional "Discovery Files" features from the National Science Foundation, click here.
