Can 'super coral' save the world's reefs?
Scientists with the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology are conducting an experiment to grow 鈥榮uper coral,鈥� off of Hawaii鈥檚 29-acre Coconut Island. Scientists are hoping 鈥榮uper-coral鈥� that has been gradually exposed to stressful water conditions in the laboratory will fair better in the increasingly聽hotter and more acidic oceans caused by global warming.聽
Experts with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said coral bleaching is killing coral reefs world wide, with Hawaii feeling some of the biggest effects.
鈥淲e may be looking at losing somewhere in the range of 10 to 20 percent of the coral reefs this year,鈥� NOAA coral reef watch coordinator Mark Eakin said. 鈥淗awaii is getting hit with the worst coral bleaching they have ever seen.鈥� 聽
Dr. Ruth Gates, the director of the Hawaii Institute, says her team's project that could save weak coral from bleaching by taking advantage of stronger individuals.聽
鈥淭he current state of knowledge suggests that these thriving corals and reefs have as a result of some combination of genetics, environmental experience and the taxonomic composition鈥� of the algae communities living with them, says Dr. Gates.
Gates and her team's approach is known as . The hope is that the coral will respond to slowly introducing increasingly stressful water conditions by accelerating "rapid adaptive mechanisms in corals.鈥�
鈥淲e鈥檝e giving them experiences that we think are going to raise their ability to survive stress,鈥� Gates told The Associated Press. These new corals will soon be transplanted to the bay amongst original coral, where they will hopefully grow and reproduce next summer.
鈥淩eef coral ecological that the rates, the magnitudes, and the complexity of environmental change are overwhelming the intrinsic capacity of corals to adapt and survive,鈥� writes Gates in online material explaining her work. 鈥淭he goal of these activities is to develop stocks of corals with enhanced stress tolerance that can be used to build resilience鈥︹��
Tom Oliver, a marine biologist at NOAA鈥檚 Coral Reef Ecosystem Division told AP that the idea of human-assisted evolution is not groundbreaking, but Gates and her team are fighting against time.
鈥淭he question is not can they do it, it鈥檚 can they do it fast enough?鈥� asks Dr. Oliver. 鈥淩estoration needs to have brood stock that can handle the changing conditions on reefs.鈥�
Human-assisted evolution can not cure all global warming ills, Gates warns. Instead, humans should spend their time ending their dependence on fossil fuels and rampant greenhouse gas emissions.
About 30 percent of the world鈥檚 coral reef populations have already died from repeated bleaching.
This report contains material from the Associated Press.
