Land-based microbes may be invading and harming coral reefs

A new study suggests that coral reefs—already under existential threat from global warming—may be undergoing further damage from invading bacteria and fungi coming from land-based sources, such as outfall from sewage treatment plants and coastal inlets. The study raised the possibility that microbes from these sources are invading reefs off of the southeastern coast of Florida. The research is published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology, a journal of the American Society for Microbiology.