ARTICLES
Meet the Super Corals that can handle Acid, Heat and Suffocation (continued)
Coral conservation under climate change
The central cause of these problems is climate change, so the
central solution is by reducing carbon emissions. Unfortunately,
this is not happening rapidly enough to save coral reefs, so
scientists also need to explore more immediate conservation
options. With that aim, many researchers have been investigating
corals that manage to grow in typically hostile conditions, such
as around tide pools and intertidal reef zones, trying to unlock the
reasons why they have become so resilient.
These extreme coral habitats are not only natural laboratories,
they house a stockpile of extremely tolerant “super corals”.
What exactly is a super coral?
“Super coral” generally refers to species that can survive both
extreme conditions and rapid changes in their environment. But
“super” is certainly not a very precise term!
Some corals cope surprisingly well in different conditions.
Emma Camp, Author provided
Our previous research quantified these traits so other ecologists
could more easily use super coral in conservation. There are
several features that need to be established to determine whether
or not a particular coral is “super”:
Mangroves are surprise reservoirs
We discovered that mangrove lagoons located near coral
reefs can often house corals living in very extreme conditions –
specifically, warm, more acidic and low oxygen seawater.
1. What hazard can the coral survive? For example, can it deal
with high temperature, or acidic water?
2. How long did the hazard last? Was it a short heatwave, or a
long-term stressor such as ocean warming?
Previously we have reported corals living in extreme mangroves
of the Seychelles, Indonesia, New Caledonia – and in our current
study, living on the Great Barrier Reef. We have reported diverse
coral populations surviving in conditions even more hostile than
is predicted over the next 100 years of climate change.
3. Did the coral survive because of a quality such as genetic
adaption, or was it tucked away in a particularly safe spot?
4. How much area does the coral cover? Is it a small pocket of
resilience, or a whole reef?
Importantly, while some of these sites only have isolated
populations, there are other areas having reef frameworks that
are actively building!
5. Is the coral trading off other important qualities to survive in
hazardous conditions?
Particularly significant were the two mangrove lagoons on the
Great Barrier Reef. They housed 34 coral species, living in more
acidic water with very little oxygen. Temperatures varied widely,
over 7℃ in the period we studied – and included periods of very
high temperatures that are known to cause stress in other corals.
6. Is the coral super enough to survive the changes coming
down the line? Is it likely to cope with future climate change?
If a coral ticks multiple boxes in this list, it’s a very robust species.
Not only will it cope well in our changing oceans, we can also
potentially distribute these super corals along vulnerable reefs.
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SCIENCE EDUCATIONAL NEWS VOL 68 NO 4