Study Reveals How Corals Gain N and P in Darwin’s Paradox | Reef Builders | The Reef and Saltwater Aquarium Blog
An article published in the Journal Nature has found that photosynthetic corals not only host their symbiotic algae, they feed directly on it too, and importantly, it is how they uptake Nitrogen and…
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Paper discusses the role of nitrogen and phosphorous and its impact on the reef environment. Based on their study, N and P are consumed indirectly by coral through the zooxanthellae. Turns out, coral will actually consume their algae symbionts to obtain the N and P necessary for growth. Nutrient limited systems are experimentally weaker and less robust compared to systems with readily available nitrogen and phosphorous.
Here's the article itself: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06442-5.pdf?pdf=button sticky