Dataset Information

Discovery of a living coral reef in the coastal waters of Iraq.

ABSTRACT: Until now, it has been well-established that coral complex in the Arabian/Persian Gulf only exist in the coastal regions of Bahrain, Iran, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates and it was thought that there are no coral reefs in Iraq. However, here for the first time we show the existence of a living 28?km(2) large coral reef in this country. These corals are adapted to one of the most extreme coral-bearing environments on earth: the seawater temperature in this area ranges between 14 and 34°C. The discovery of the unique coral reef oasis in the turbid coastal waters of Iraq will stimulate the interest of governmental agencies, environmental organizations, as well as of the international scientific community working on the fundamental understanding of coral marine ecosystems and global climate today.

SUBMITTER: Pohl T

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3945051 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Discovery of a living coral reef in the coastal waters of Iraq.

Pohl Thomas T Al-Muqdadi Sameh W SW Ali Malik H MH Fawzi Nadia Al-Mudaffar NA Ehrlich Hermann H Ehrlich Hermann H Merkel Broder B

Scientific reports 20140306

Until now, it has been well-established that coral complex in the Arabian/Persian Gulf only exist in the coastal regions of Bahrain, Iran, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates and it was thought that there are no coral reefs in Iraq. However, here for the first time we show the existence of a living 28 km(2) large coral reef in this country. These corals are adapted to one of the most extreme coral-bearing environments on earth: the seawater temperature in this area ranges ...[more]

PMID: 24603901

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Dataset Information

Discovery of a living coral reef in the coastal waters of Iraq.

Publications

Discovery of a living coral reef in the coastal waters of Iraq.

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