Key Algae Species Helping Soft Corals Survive Warming Oceans

Scleractinian corals, or hard corals, have been disappearing globally over the past four decades, a result of climate change, pollution, unsustainable coastal development and overfishing. However, some Caribbean octocorals, or soft corals, are not meeting the same fate.

During a two-year survey of soft corals in the Florida...