Prochlorococcus, a genus of bacteria that’s key to oxygen production in the ocean, tends to disappear when faced with marine pollution. It lives throughout the sunlit layer of tropical oceans and, while it doesn’t necessarily play a key role in coral biology, its abundance is a sign of a healthy coral reef ecosystem. A growing number of scientists are studying it and other microorganisms to keep tabs on reef health. Two marine scientists explain the “why” and the “how” of microbial-based reef monitoring, which is still relatively rare, in a paper published May 23 in the journal Cell Reports Sustainability. Lead author Amy Apprill, an associate scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, a nonprofit research center in the United States, said this kind of monitoring is part of a larger effort to protect reefs. “Coral reefs are in decline worldwide, and I’m one of many scientists trying to do everything we can to help them, and so we were excited to put this article together because we think it’s an important way to examine the health of reefs,” Apprill told Mongabay. Apprill said the paper is aimed at coral reef conservation practitioners and managers. She’s given talks on the subject for the last two years, and a journal editor commissioned the paper after hearing her speak. She said the message of the talks is, “You all should think about using reef water microbes to understand more about what’s going on at your reef sites.” Amy Apprill collecting water in St.…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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