 CORAL REEFS IN CRISIS MARTIN COUNTY CONSERVATION ALLIANCE SPONSORING PRESENTATION BY HARBOR BRANCH SCIENTIST Fort Pierce, Fl., Jan. 29, 2001 - The Martin County Conservation Alliance is sponsoring "Coral Reefs In Crisis; The Human Alteration Of The Global Nitrogen Cycle", a presentation by Dr. Brian Lapointe at the Blake Memorial Library in Stuart on Monday, Jan. 29th, from 7pm-8pm. Dr. Lapointe, a Senior Scientist in the Harbor Branch Division of Marine Science, will present the results of more than 15 years of research that shows why, in some areas, up to 40-percent of FloridaÕs coastal reef systems are dying or already past the point of recovery. This presentation is being made in conjunction with the Jan. 7th publication of a paper on Dr. LapointeÕs research in the science journal "Nature". The results of the research increasingly point to a phenomenon known as nutrient loading or nutrient enrichment as the source of whatÕs killing the shallow-water coral reefs that are found off the Florida coast. The Blake Memorial Library is at 2351 SE Monterey in Stuart. For more information, please call HARBOR BRANCH at 772.465.2400. Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, Inc. is one of the world's leading nonprofit oceanographic research organizations dedicated to the exploration of the earth's oceans, estuaries and coastal regions for the benefit of mankind. |