Coral reefs are struggling and even disappearing under the weight of climate change, declining water quality, and other pressures. While some reefs have been overrun by algae, others have fared better. A UM team is trying to understand why come reefs are more resilient than others. Tiny organisms called forams may be part of the answer.

“Forams have been abundant in the ocean for the last 500 million years, and their limestone shells record many things about the chemistry of the ocean,” says researcher Sam Purkis. “We are using forams to tell us whether the reefs have suffered high temperatures over the centuries, how the reefs have been stressed or impacted by humans, and also how reefs have been overgrown by algae.”

• Samuel Purkis