How are Coral Reefs Adapting to Survive the Changes in the Climate

Serving as home to 30% of all marine life, coral reefs are the ocean's rainforests. In terms of economic growth, they sustain almost a billion people all over the world. Climate change, on the other hand, puts coral reef ecosystems in jeopardy.

rofessor Christian Voolstra of the University of Konstanz and an international group of experts describe how to extend and harvest natural adaptive processes to increase the resilience of corals and the reef ecosystems they build in an article published in the current issue of the online journal Nature Reviews Earth & Environment.

Natural Heat Tolerance

To increase corals' natural heat tolerance, the researchers recommend applying nature-based techniques and creating related methods. In some ways, the goal is to give a toolkit of strategies that will allow corals to assist themselves.

Under climate change, corals' historically tight adaption to their surrounding climate is their Achilles heel. Even reducing global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius will not be enough to safeguard coral reefs. This is because corals are so well acclimated to their surroundings that even a slight increase in temperature can negatively influence them.

Coral Bleaching

It's crucial to note that no artificial or foreign genetic material is used in this type of manipulation, unlike genetic alterations. "It is tough to anticipate the impacts of foreign genetic material in complex ecosystems, particularly in microbes that have concise reproduction periods and are thus able to spread and develop fast," Voolstra said of genetic modification to rescue reefs.

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