UMaine researchers Malcolm Shick and Mark Wells measuring the photosynthetic efficiency of Stylophora pistillata in shallow water at Davies Reef, Great Barrier Reef It is widely held that coral bleaching occurs when temperatures and solar radiation are high, overwhelming antioxidant defenses in the algal endosymbionts and their coral hosts. Little understood read more Limited Iron Availability Shown to Exacerbate Coral Bleaching