{"673216":{"#nid":"673216","#data":{"type":"news","title":"\u2018Janitors\u2019 of the Sea: Overharvested Sea Cucumbers Play Crucial Role in Protecting Coral","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ECorals are foundational for ocean life. Known as the rainforests of the sea, they create habitats for 25% of all marine organisms, despite only covering less than 1% of the ocean\u2019s area.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECoral patches the width and height of basketball arenas used to be common throughout the world\u2019s oceans. But due to numerous human-generated stresses and coral disease, which is known to be associated with ocean sediments, most of the world\u2019s coral is gone.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt\u2019s like if all the pine trees in Georgia disappeared over a period of 30 to 40 years,\u201d said\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\/people\/mark-hay\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EMark Hay\u003C\/a\u003E, Regents\u2019 Chair and the Harry and Anna Teasley Chair in Environmental Biology in the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ESchool of Biological Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;at the Georgia Institute of Technology. \u201cJust imagine how that affects biodiversity and ecosystems of the ocean.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn first-of-its-kind research, Hay, along with research scientist\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.cody-clements.com\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ECody Clements\u003C\/a\u003E, discovered a crucial missing element that plays a profound role in keeping coral healthy \u2014 an animal of overlooked importance known as a sea cucumber.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/research.gatech.edu\/feature\/sea-cucumber\u0022\u003ERead about how they figured it out at Georgia Tech Research News\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn a first-of-its-kind study,\u0026nbsp;researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology discovered that sea cucumbers\u0026nbsp;\u2014\u0026nbsp;sediment-eating organisms that function like autonomous vacuum cleaners of the ocean floor\u0026nbsp;\u2014 play an enormous role in protecting coral from disease.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"In a first-of-its-kind study, the researchers discovered that sea cucumbers protect coral from disease."}],"uid":"36123","created_gmt":"2024-02-27 16:39:15","changed_gmt":"2024-02-27 19:01:24","author":"Catherine Barzler","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2024-02-27T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2024-02-27T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"673225":{"id":"673225","type":"image","title":"Sea cucumbers and coral","body":"\u003Cp\u003ESea cucumbers play a crucial role in protecting coral from disease. Credit: Cody Clements\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","created":"1709052172","gmt_created":"2024-02-27 16:42:52","changed":"1709052075","gmt_changed":"2024-02-27 16:41:15","alt":"An underwater photo of several sea cucumbers and fish surrounding coral.","file":{"fid":"256586","name":"Sea Cucumber_Feeding_1 (1).png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/02\/27\/Sea%20Cucumber_Feeding_1%20%281%29.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/02\/27\/Sea%20Cucumber_Feeding_1%20%281%29.png","mime":"image\/png","size":5235715,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2024\/02\/27\/Sea%20Cucumber_Feeding_1%20%281%29.png?itok=wprkcmP7"}}},"media_ids":["673225"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1275","name":"School of Biological Sciences"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"193266","name":"cos-research"},{"id":"192254","name":"cos-climate"},{"id":"192250","name":"cos-microbial"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71911","name":"Earth and Environment"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ECatherine Barzler, Senior Research Writer\/Editor\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:catherine.barzler@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ecatherine.barzler@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["catherine.barzler@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}