Monitoring in the Caribbean waters of northwestern Panama has revealed low oxygen levels as a previously unexplored cause of the coral die-offs threatening reef systems around the world. A study published by researchers from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in March says low oxygen levels, or hypoxia, disturbs the symbiotic relationship between coral and algae, a process critical to reef health. The study’s main author, Smithsonian researcher Andrew Altieri, says it can be almost impossible to trace a massive coral death event to hypoxia after the fact. But his institute happened to be monitoring at the time, and in the right place—Almirante Bay in Panama’s Bocas del Toro province. “It was fortuitous that the Smithsonian had a station there where oxygen was... [Log in to read more]