Composite image of selection of photographs from the IOSEA expedition, by Margaret Augustine

One important discovery to emerge from the first two-year experiment in Biosphere 2 (September 1991 to September 1993) came from close observations of the man-made coral reef system. The eight biospherians discovered that the health of the coral reef system gave them rapid and accurate information about the health of the Biosphere 2 facility considered as a totality. In fact the reef's condition fluxed very rapidly, even over short periods of time, in response to changes in atmosphere, temperature and bio-geochemical cycles. The coral reef thus proved to be a rapid feedback loop, that alerted the managers and scientists monitoring the facility to the health of the total system. Changes also occurred in the other biomes, but more slowly and over much longer time periods.