Research to Aid in Caribbean Reef Restoration

A 14-year, MacArthur-supported study in Belize by the Wildlife Conservation Society has found that fishing closures there produce encouraging increases in populations of predatory fish species but only a minimal increase in herbivorous fish, which feed on the algae that smother corals and inhibit reef recovery. The findings will help researchers in their search for new solutions to the problem of restoring Caribbean reefs damaged by fishing and climate change. View the Wildlife Conservation Society press release.