
Genetic differences among these bleached and healthy corals of the same species contributed to their fate. New guidelines for coral restoration outline a concrete plan for collecting, raising, and replanting corals that prioritizes genetic diversity, maximizing the potential for corals to adapt to their changing environment. Credit: Ilsa Kuffner, U.S. Geological Survey
New guidelines drafted by a consortium of concerned experts could enable corals to adapt to changing environments and help restore declining coral populations in the Caribbean. The guidelines provide a definitive plan for collecting, raising, and replanting corals that maximizes their potential for adaptation.
A new paper outlining the guidelines, authored by the restoration genetics working group of the Coral Restoration Consortium, a group of scientists, restoration practitioners, educators, and concerned members of the public, appears online July 22, 2019 in the journal Ecological Applications.
“The Caribbean has experienced tremendous coral loss over the last few decades, and coral restoration has become an urgent issue in the region,” said Iliana Baums, professor of biology at Penn State and chair of the Coral Restoration Consortium restoration genetics working group. “But few of the traditional guidelines for conservation, which tend to focus on vertebrates or plants, apply to corals. In this paper, we provide concrete guidelines for restoring coral populations, using the best available data.”
Corals serve as the foundation for reefs, which protect coastal communities, provide food and medicinal compounds, and lead to an estimated $9.9 trillion per year in goods and services around the globe. But reefs worldwide face a variety of threats—foremost among them rising ocean temperatures—and are declining, particularly in the Caribbean.
A recent National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration-commissioned report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine provides a broad overview of 23 coral restoration strategies, though most are largely untested and not ready for implementation.
“The guidelines in this new paper are among those that can be implemented immediately and are grounded in the idea that coral populations can naturally respond to change if they have enough genetic diversity,” said Baums. “We are focusing on maintaining or increasing the genetic diversity of coral populations, which will provide more options for the corals to adapt to their changing environments.”
Coral populations grow in a variety of environments, covering a range of temperatures, depths, and light conditions, and they tend to adapt to local conditions. Thus, individuals in different environments should have differences in their genetic code that allow them to thrive. The consortium recommends collecting corals from these different environments to capture as much genetic diversity as possible. Then corals should be raised in a nursery, where they can quickly grow, and replanted on reefs.
“Corals can reproduce both asexually and sexually,” said Baums. “We can break off a small piece of a colony and replant it, essentially yielding a clone of the original coral. But sexual reproduction is key to naturally producing genetic diversity, and rates of sexual reproduction on reefs are dropping dramatically, especially for true reef-building corals. By replanting diverse corals in small groups, we enable the corals to sexually reproduce with each other.”
Collected corals could be replanted in locations similar to their original environment, or in locations that may soon become similar to their original environment.
“By taking advantage of improved climate models, we can anticipate where these traits may be beneficial in the future,” said Baums.
“We hope these guidelines for collecting, raising, and replanting corals will help to establish self-sustaining, sexually reproducing coral populations,” said Baums. “The situation surrounding coral reef decline is certainly dire, but we have a tremendous community of people that is dedicated to solving the problem. We have made enormous progress in figuring out how to do coral restoration, and we can make a difference in coral populations today. But for every minute that passes, it gets harder. With every missed opportunity to curb carbon emissions, which contribute to rising ocean temperatures, it gets even harder. Coral reefs are the world’s most diverse ecosystems and they provide incredibly important ecosystem services, so we really cannot afford to lose them.”
Learn more: How to restore a coral reef: New guidelines for helping corals adapt to changing environment
The Latest on: Coral reef restoration
[google_news title=”” keyword=”coral reef restoration” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
via Google News
The Latest on: Coral reef restoration
- Maui Nui Marine Resource Council to host free live talk on coral restoration in Hawaiʻion November 28, 2023 at 7:30 pm
Maui Nui Marine Resource Council will host the December edition of its “Know Your Ocean Speaker Series” featuring Alika Garcia and Blake Nowack of Kuleana Coral Restoration, on Dec. 6 at 5:30 p.m. in ...
- Mote partners with SCUBAPRO on new Coral Reef Restoration Citizen Science Programon November 28, 2023 at 1:41 pm
Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium is partnering with Johnson Outdoors, together with its SCUBAPRO brand, to create a community coral reef restoration program that offers divers the opportunity to ...
- How humans are engineering the future of coral reefson November 28, 2023 at 11:00 am
The Verge visited the evacuated corals where they found temporary refuge on land. We spent time at a gene bank, home to a new generation of baby corals that could one day repopulate Florida’s reefs.
- L’Oréal Aus & NZ Partner With Great Barrier Reef Foundation, Announcing Large Investmentson November 27, 2023 at 5:00 pm
L’Oréal Groupe announces one of the largest investments to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation to pioneer new coral restoration efforts in the region.
- Reef restoration underway at Rachaon November 21, 2023 at 8:36 pm
PHUKET: A project overseen by the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) is underway to install 88 sets of 3D-printed ‘coral larvae islands’ at Siam Bay, at Racha Yai Island south of Ph ...
- How local communities in Indonesia’s Gili islands are restoring coral ecosystems amid rising sea temperatureson November 21, 2023 at 5:09 pm
Tourists flock to see coral reefs in Gili Matra, near Bali, which are at growing risk from warming seas. Locals are working to restore coral, while coming up with new income sources – like fish floss.
- Mote coral reef restoration experts return evacuated corals to underwater nurserieson November 19, 2023 at 4:00 pm
Mote Marine Laboratory’s team of expert coral reef restoration researchers have begun the multistep process of reintroducing thousands of healthy corals back into its underwater nurseries after ...
- New Coral Adoption Program by 4ocean to Help Save Reefs–Every Bracelet Plants a Coral and Removes Ocean Plasticon November 19, 2023 at 7:27 am
Every 4ocean bracelet sold will plant a live coral on a damaged reef–and you can watch your adopted coral grown in a nursery.
- MARINE CONSERVATION & CORAL REEF RESTORATION - Become a skillful ecological diver and help protect the beautiful caribbean marine environmenton November 17, 2023 at 8:45 am
Embark on an exciting diving internship, progressing to "Open Water Diver" and "Coral Reef Conservation" training with PADI. Already an Open Water Diver or equivalent? Get a 200 Euro discount or AOWD ...
via Bing News