Oct 01, 2015 04:39 PM EDT By Staff Reporter, UniversityHerald Reporter

A balanced diet is as beneficial for marine invertebrates as it is for humans, according to a recent study.

New research led by scientists at the University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science and the Centre Scientifique de Monaco concluded that a nutrient-rich, balanced diet is beneficial to corals during stressful thermal events.

"We found that the coral's resilience to thermal stress totally depends on the kind of inorganix enrichment - if it's 'balanced' or not," researcher Erica Towle said in a statement.

For the study, researchers tested which nutrients were beneficial to corals during elevated temperature condition temperature conditions, the scientists fed them two types -- inorganic nutrients of nitrogen and phosphorus commonly found in the ocean as a result of fertilizers and sewage runoff, and organic nutrients of zooplankton, tiny animals in the ocean that coral are known to feed on.

The researchers found that excess nitrogen alone and zooplankton, an organic nutrient enrichment of tiny ocean animals, made high-temperature bleaching events worse. While excess nitrogen in combination with extra phosphorus and zooplankton afford the coral resilience to bleaching. This study is one of the first to assess the three-way interaction between the two types of nutrient enrichment and thermal stress on coral health.

"Excess nutrients from land sources and thermal stress will likely occur in concert in the future so it's important to assess them together," Towle said. "Incorporating nutrient levels in thermal bleaching models will likely be very important for coral reef managers in the future as ocean waters warm."

The findings are detailed in the journal Limnology and Oceanography.

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