At the Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL), our science is grounded in the belief that coral reefs can adapt and thrive — but only if we support the natural processes that make them resilient (while humans get their act together around carbon emissions). This is the science of reef resilience, and it’s key to securing a future for coral reefs and the people who depend on them. 

What Is Reef Resilience?

Reef resilience refers to a coral reef’s ability to withstand disturbances — like warming waters — and recover afterward. Just like a healthy immune system helps a person bounce back from illness, a resilient reef can recover from damage and continue to support marine life and coastal communities.

But resilience isn’t just luck. 

It’s shaped by a complex mix of biological diversity, healthy habitat conditions, and — crucially — the absence of human stressors. When we reduce local threats, protect coral diversity, and maintain strong connections between reef systems, we create the conditions for coral reefs to persist, even in this warming climate.

How Do Coral Reefs Adapt? 

Adaptation is a natural process that helps living things survive changes in their environment over time. In coral reefs, genetic diversity fuels this adaptation.

Some corals are naturally better equipped to handle heat stress than others. When a reef is genetically diverse — with many different species of corals, and high genetic variation within a species — it increases the chances that some individuals will survive high temperatures. Those survivors pass on their genes, giving rise to new generations of corals adapted to warmer waters.

But adaptation doesn’t happen in isolation. Currents play a major role by carrying coral larvae (baby corals) between reef systems, so well-connected reefs are critical. This movement creates genetic connections between reefs and over time, this flow of genes helps other reefs across a larger area survive higher temperatures.

CORAL’s science supports this process. Our models show that protecting genetically connected reef networks increases the odds of survival under climate change. When heat-adapted corals from warmer reefs send their offspring to cooler areas, they help neighboring reefs prepare for the warming that’s coming.

Local Conservation = Global Impact

While climate change is a global threat, local conservation plays a crucial role in building reef resilience.

When reefs are under stress from pollution, overfishing, or poor water quality, their chances of recovering from bleaching or disease go down. But when local conditions are healthy, reefs are better able to bounce back.

Here are a few key ways local actions support reef resilience:

1. Reducing Overfishing and Supporting Herbivorous Fish

Herbivores like parrotfish and surgeonfish help maintain the balance between coral and algae on a reef. After a disturbance like coral bleaching, algae can quickly take over — preventing corals from reestablishing. But when herbivorous fish are present, they graze down the algae, clearing space for coral recovery.

That’s why protecting fish populations isn’t just about food security — it’s also a direct investment in reef health. Overfishing disrupts the balance of the reef ecosystem and removes key species that play a role in maintaining coral health. By working with local communities to develop sustainable fishing practices, we support both biodiversity and long-term livelihoods.

Read more about Marine Protected Areas (which help protect fish populations) >

2. Improving Water Quality

Runoff from land — including sewage, agricultural chemicals, and sediment — clouds the water, blocks sunlight, and introduces harmful bacteria. Clean water is essential for coral growth, reproduction, and resilience.

In places like West Maui, Hawai‘i, CORAL partners with local groups to implement nature-based solutions like restoring native forests and wetlands to reduce polluted runoff. And on the island of Roatan, CORAL and partners are treating millions of gallons of wastewater before it enters the nearby ocean.

Read more about clean water for reefs >

The Power of Connected Reefs

We already mentioned the importance of reef connectivity, but it truly is so important. Protecting these networks — especially areas that already experience high temperatures and house heat-tolerant corals — is one of the smartest strategies we have for conserving coral reefs in a warming world.

In practice, this means:

Incorporating climate-smart strategies and influencing policy to

identify and protect diverse networks of reefs, including those reefs in warmer water that are likely sources of heat-tolerant genes (sometimes called “hot reefs”) 

Reducing local stressors across the network, so corals can reproduce, and the larvae arriving from other areas have the best chance of survival

This approach is grounded in cutting-edge adaptation science and allows us to take conservation action now — rather than waiting for future technological fixes.

Read more about coral adaptation >

A Science-Driven, People-Focused Approach

At CORAL, we combine the best available science with deep partnerships in coastal communities. We don’t plant or engineer coral. Instead, we focus on protecting existing corals and the conditions that allow them to naturally adapt and recover. That means supporting community-led efforts, providing training and funding, and developing scientific models to identify where our efforts will have the biggest long-term impact.

We know reef resilience doesn’t happen in labs alone — it’s made real by the fishers, resource managers, policymakers, and local organizations who care for their coastlines every day.

The Bottom Line

Coral reefs are not doomed. They are dynamic, adaptable ecosystems — and they have a chance at long-term survival if we tackle climate change and protect the conditions that allow them to thrive.

By combining science with local action, we can help reefs recover from today’s threats and build resilience for tomorrow’s challenges. That’s the mission we live every day at CORAL — and we invite you to join us.

What You Can Do

You don’t have to be a scientist or a diver to help coral reefs thrive. Here’s how you can support reef resilience from wherever you are:

Support organizations (like CORAL) that take a science-based, community-led approach

Reduce your carbon footprint to slow global warming and advocate for policies and actions to tackle climate change

Avoid products that harm reefs: don’t use sunscreens with oxybenzone or eat reef-damaging seafood

Speak up for policies that protect clean water, fisheries, and marine ecosystems

Every action you take contributes to a healthier planet — and a better future for coral reefs.

The post Exploring Reef Resilience Through the Science of Coral Adaptation appeared first on Coral Reef Alliance.

Through scientific research, we work to understand how coral reefs can adapt in the face of climate change and translate our findings into data-driven solutions.

Why We Assess

Coral reefs support coastal communities, act as natural barriers against storm surges, and are critical to marine biodiversity. However, they are severely threatened by pollution, unsustainable fishing, and climate change, with predictions that almost all coral reefs could be lost by 2050 if current trends continue. 

CORAL recognizes that climate change is a profound challenge for reefs and that reducing greenhouse gas emissions will be key to their survival. 

However, though climate change is a global problem, strategic local protection is still critical to maximizing the probability of coral reef survival and recovery. Through actionable science, we strive to understand how to make this possible and provide tools to enable climate-smart reef protection across the globe. 

Our Science

Over almost a decade of scientific research, CORAL and its partners have shown that protecting connected networks of genetically diverse reefs is critical to ensuring their survival and recovery. 

Genetic variation is the fuel of evolution. Organisms with genes that are best adapted to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce, sending their unique genetic code on to the next generation. This process is known as natural selection. Over multiple generations of natural selection, species can evolve, displaying new traits and characteristics. And the more genetically diverse a population of organisms is, the more likely some of those individuals will be able to adapt to whatever circumstances arise. It’s this idea that is essential to coral reefs surviving the heat stress created by climate change. 

Through simulating coral reef survival under different climate scenarios, we’ve shown that genetically diverse coral reef networks are much more likely to survive warming waters than their less diverse counterparts. Our research has also found that genetic connections between coral reefs (e.g. via currents that carry coral larvae) are crucial to their prospects because genetic exchange, especially from reefs that are already adapted to high temperatures, can enhance the odds of resilience.

These findings present us with a few key implications for how we can help corals survive warming oceans. 

First, we must reduce carbon emissions and slow the rate of climate change to give corals a fighting chance. Second, we must protect a diversity of reefs that are themselves genetically diverse. Doing so increases the odds that heat-adapted individuals will be present and naturally selected. Third, we can’t just protect individual patches of reef; we must ensure that reefs are protected in connected networks to allow the exchange of genes. And finally, we must pay particular attention to the presence of hot reefs in these networks, which should allow heat-adapted larvae to spread to other reefs.

From Science to Action

Despite the importance of genetic variation in coral reef resilience, approaches to reef management often fail to account for evolutionary criteria. This is because assessing coral reef genetic diversity is costly and requires expertise that many practitioners do not have available. 

CORAL is working closely with partners to evaluate whether we can estimate coral reef genetic diversity and adaptive capacity from remotely sensed data. As we develop adequate proxies, we can then scale these up, creating a globally applicable tool, which we’re aiming to launch in 2025.

Making this information easily and freely accessible worldwide would catalyze its incorporation into coral reef management and marine spatial planning processes as part of countries’ 30×30 commitments. Our Global Conservation Science team’s goal is to influence and leverage partners, fieldwork, and technology to drive adaptation-focused conservation solutions that will rescue coral reefs from the effects of climate change.

Climate REEFS

In 2023, CORAL proudly expanded its conservation efforts into the Coral Triangle, a vital marine region spanning six countries—Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Timor-Leste. This biodiversity hotspot is home to 76% of the world’s coral species and supports the livelihoods of millions through fishing, tourism, and coastal protection services.

As part of the Climate REEFS initiative (Integrating Risks, Evolution, and socio-Economics for Fisheries Sustainability)—a multi-million dollar collaboration of partners in the USA, UK, Indonesia, and the Philippines—CORAL is working to develop techniques to identify adaptive reefs using remote sensing technologies. The ultimate goal of this effort is to develop a freely available, online tool that can identify genetically diverse reefs across the globe. In-country Climate REEFS partners hope to work with relevant government bodies in Indonesia and the Philippines to co-create revised provincial and national-level marine management plans that reflect our findings.

Identifying and Prioritizing Adaptive Capacity in Marine Conservation

CORAL also developed an international consortium of conservationists, ecologists, and computer scientists with a shared interest in evaluating whether we can measure coral reef diversity and adaptive capacity from space. Through examining relationships between measures of diversity (e.g. species diversity, genetic diversity, and others) and remotely sensed metrics at a series of pilot sites, this group strives to identify the best proxies for reef measures of adaptive potential—work that complements the research undertaken by Climate REEFS. 

Our members’ research encompasses a range of approaches and spans three oceans: the Pacific, including sites in the North (e.g., Hawai’i, Palau, and Republic of the Marshall Islands), South (e.g., Fiji), and Indo-west Pacific (e.g., Indonesia and the Philippines), the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean (Mozambique), and the Atlantic (e.g., Honduras and the Turks and Caicos Islands).

Influencing Reef Conservation Approaches Across the Globe

Through outreach and collaboration with partners, CORAL’s approach to reef conservation has been shared and recognized across the globe. 

Last year, for instance, CORAL contributed to the Convention on Biological Diversity’s Target 3 Partnership Meeting in Cambridge, which aimed to coordinate implementation efforts of the Post-2020 Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and build technical capacity. The guidelines developed at this meeting and ones like it will inform conservation approaches for diverse ecosystems everywhere on Earth. 

CORAL has also recently been accredited by the UN Environment Programme, co-published seven high-impact scientific papers over the last seven years, and shared its findings at multiple high-profile conferences and events. 

Notably, in 2023, CORAL further expanded its reach by securing two CORAL Fellows, one of whom is supporting Pacific Coral Triangle countries, based in Honiara, and one of whom is supporting Southeast Asian countries in the Coral Triangle, based in Manado at the Regional Secretariat of the Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries, and Food Security. These locally-based consultants are contributing to a climate risk assessment for Coral Triangle reefs as well as a policy analysis that aims to inform fisheries management by reviewing gendered climate vulnerability and climate risks.

Looking Ahead

CORAL’s Assess efforts, which center around understanding how we can protect reefs to encourage effective climate change adaptation, are critical to the future health and resilience of coral reefs worldwide. 

By working to create readily available tools and resources that enable practitioners in under-resourced settings to incorporate genetic diversity into their coral reef conservation approaches, we’re working to improve the odds that coral reefs will survive and recover in a rapidly changing world. 

Our commitment to understanding how we can help corals adapt continues to yield meaningful results. Over the last few years, we’ve successfully co-authored multiple successfully funded research projects, expanded our work to the Coral Triangle (a hub of coral reef biodiversity), and continued to form and strengthen partnerships that help us magnify our international impact. CORAL is not only working to save coral reefs but also to foster a global community united by a common goal: to protect and restore one of our planet’s most valuable and life-giving ecosystems. Together, we can ensure coral reefs—and the communities that depend on them—continue to thrive for generations to come.

See Also: What is a Marine Protected Area?

The post Assessing Coral Reefs through Adaptation Science appeared first on Coral Reef Alliance.

Our team in Honduras has spent the past few years diligently crafting the design and implementation of innovative and sustainable economic alternatives to fishing in water that are critical coral reef areas. Through this program we are giving families financial independence while reducing overfishing pressures. One of these alternatives is aquaponics with native species, which leverages the power of mariculture.  

What is Mariculture? A Lifeline for Coastal Communities and Coral Reefs

Mariculture is essentially underwater agriculture – it’s aquaculture. But, what does that actually look like?

While critical marine organisms like oysters, algae and seaweed can be farmed and raised out of the ocean, mariculture is the cultivation of these marine organisms using their natural habitats. By leveraging the power of the ocean, mariculture creates a lifeline for coastal communities and the fragile marine environments they depend on. The aquaponic systems that CORAL is installing in Tela Bay, Honduras, capitalizes on the power of mariculture for the sake of rebounding overfished areas in order to protect coral reefs.

Science in Action

The benefits of mariculture are vast and vital. This approach to offset the consequences of overfishing also helps mitigate nutrient pollution, provides essential habitats for marine life, supports fish stocks, reduces local climate change impacts, and generates income for communities—all while preserving the environment. Mariculture offers a sustainable path forward for coastal regions worldwide.

In July, CORAL’s own Julio San Martin Chicas – our Program Coordinator for the North Coast of Honduras – participated in a hands-on mariculture course provided by Dr. Lonnie Kaczmarsky at the Institute for Tropical Ecology and Conservation in Bocas del Toro, Panama. This course expanded Julio’s knowledge on the subject matter as well as his approach to strengthening CORAL’s aquaponics initiative. His participation in the course also starts to fill an opportunity gap not only for CORAL and our partners, but also for Honduras, as Julio is the first Honduran to participate in this program. We hope that by attending and implementing the lessons that he learned in Panama in Honduras, Julio will be the first of many Hondurans to implement this approach alongside our community partners.

ITEC’s program teaches conservationists and citizen scientists how mariculture has the power to sustainably alleviate pressures that coral reefs face, especially in the ever-changing environmental conditions spurred on by climate change. Julio is all about science in action and science for action.

Sustainable Alternatives for Coral Conservation

Utilizing mariculture as an approach to saving coral reefs isn’t just about growing our knowledge base; it’s about creating a ripple effect of positive change. By empowering individuals like Julio and organizations like CORAL with the right skills and resources, mariculture sets the stage for transformative progress in coral conservation.

CORAL is dedicated to promoting sustainable fisheries as a way to bolster the resilience of coastal communities and coral reefs. Mariculture aligns with this mission, offering a way to promote economic stability for coastal communities in Honduras while also preserving the threatened coral reef ecosystems that support them. Now, thanks to Julio and this course, we are one step closer to our goal of protecting and restoring coral reefs in the North Coast of Honduras and beyond.

The post Mariculture: An Innovative Approach to Coral Conservation appeared first on Coral Reef Alliance.

Unfortunately, coral reefs are also highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, including rising sea temperatures, ocean acidification, and more frequent and intense storms. This has led to a decline in the health and resilience of many coral reefs, which in turn has negatively impacted the livelihoods of millions of people who depend on them for food, income, and cultural identity.

To address these challenges, a team of researchers from University of Leeds (UK), Coral Reef Alliance (USA), Rare (Philippines & Indonesia), Pattimura University (Indonesia), and many other partners are launching a project in the Philippines and Indonesia.

These two nations are part of “The Coral Triangle” – a region in the western Pacific Ocean that is known for its incredible marine biodiversity and rich coral reef ecosystems. It is often referred to as the “Amazon of the Seas” due to its vast array of marine life and is considered one of the most important and diverse marine regions on Earth.

Our Project

The new project is called Climate REEFS: Integrating Risks, Evolution, and socio-Economics for Fisheries Sustainability.

Led by Dr. Maria Beger of University of Leeds, Rocky Sanchez-Tirona of Rare, Dr. Gino Limmon of Pattimura University, and Dr. Helen Fox of CORAL, the project will focus on climate change adaptation for both coral reefs and the coastal communities that depend on them. In particular, Climate REEFS aims to both develop techniques to identify adaptive reefs using remote sensing technologies and characterize how gender and social status shape socio-economic vulnerabilities and the ability to adapt to reef degradation.

Its ultimate goal is to strengthen community capacity for sustainable fisheries and to improve management of coral reef marine protected areas (MPAs).

Climate REEFS will involve a range of activities, including social science research to identify climate vulnerability and gender- and socially inclusive adaptation pathways. It also involves geospatial research to detect adaptive reefs from satellite-derived data, as well as ecological and genomic research to pilot an analysis that tests the interplay of adaptiveness from genes to people.

All activities will be conducted at a small scale, with the goal of training the team in key research techniques and identifying policy opportunities that will enable future expansion.

Convening in the Philippines 

Climate REEFS officially kicked off in the city of Cebu, the Philippines, where partners met from July 3 – 5 to discuss major work packages, finalize project timelines, and flesh out plans for the start of gathering data in the field, among other agenda items.

The project team is currently working to select field sites for ecological coral reef surveys off the island of Leyte in the Philippines and is also working with nearby coastal communities. It’s expected that similar efforts will begin off the island of Ambon, Indonesia in October.  

Expanding our Presence in the Coral Triangle

You can help us expand our work in the Coral Triangle by following the Climate REEFS project and sharing about it with friends, family, and followers. The more people who know about this work, the better. We’re confident this sharing of knowledge will influence how other communities manage their coral reef resources and influence donors to fund coral conservation and science.

The post Coral Reefs in a Changing Climate: Expanding to the Coral Triangle appeared first on Coral Reef Alliance.

One of the most devastating challenges faced by Caribbean corals is the outbreak of stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD), which was first detected in Florida in 2014. Since then, it has rapidly spread to 26 countries in the wider Caribbean, causing severe impacts on susceptible coral reefs.

Our partners, Roatan Marine Park and Bay Islands Conservation Association, have been monitoring the progression of SCTLD in the Bay Islands of Honduras for 2 years. Here are some highlights of the efforts made in collaboration with the Bay Islands Technical Committee to mitigate its effects and raise awareness.

Monitoring and Analysis of the Spread

In January 2020, monitoring efforts to detect SCTLD commenced on the island of Roatan in Honduras, following its first report in Flowers Bay in September 2020. Utilizing the rover diver methodology (swimming over coral reefs for observation), presence-absence data were collected to track the disease’s progression. Over a period of 13 months, SCTLD spread across the Bay Islands, affecting at least 28 stony coral species. 

Roatan and Utila were the most impacted islands, with the disease encircling them rapidly at a rate of approximately 155 m/day. Geographical patterns also emerged, with faster disease progression observed on the windward side of Roatan compared to the leeward side.

Understanding the Spread of SCTLD

While we don’t yet know the exact causes of SCTLD, a variety of natural and human-driven factors are believed to play a part in its spread.

On the natural side, thermal stress and ocean currents seem to be correlated with SCTLD outbreaks. For instance, higher water temperatures and specific surface current conditions might be linked to disease outbreaks.

On the human side, activities such as tourism, coastal development, and marine traffic may unintentionally help propagate SCTLD. Some theories point to ballast water and contaminated dive gear as possible carriers of the disease. High concentrations of dive centers and increased boat traffic in certain areas could exacerbate its spread. 

Moreover, factors like poor water quality, sedimentation, and eutrophication – often consequences of human activities – can further stress corals, increasing the likelihood of SCTLD outbreaks. All of these factors underline the complex nature of SCTLD and the need for continued research to better understand and counter this disease.

Implications and Conservation Efforts

The rapid spread of SCTLD in the Bay Islands underscores the urgent need for conservation measures. The high dependency of these islands on healthy coral reefs for tourism highlights the importance of addressing the impacts of the disease. 

Collaborative efforts between non-governmental organizations (NGOs), government agencies, and local businesses have been crucial in assessing the severity of the disease, mitigating its effects, and raising awareness for coral reef conservation. 

Our most effective tools for monitoring and intervention against this devastating disease are local NGOs and our dedicated partners. Their intimate knowledge of the environment and unwavering commitment to its protection are invaluable. By harnessing this collaborative power, there is hope for coral reefs.

Dr. Antonella Rivera, CORAL’s Principal Investigator for the Western Caribbean

Lessons learned from the spread of SCTLD in Honduras can provide valuable insights for other Caribbean nations facing similar challenges.

What’s Next?

The rapid spread of stony coral tissue loss disease in the Honduran Bay Islands serves as a wake-up call for immediate action in coral reef conservation. To combat this devastating disease and protect the invaluable ecosystems it threatens, we must come together and take intentional action. 

Here are two actionable ways you can contribute:

Read the New Publication

If you’re interested in delving deeper into the research and understanding the complexities of SCTLD and its spread in the Bay Islands, we invite you to read the full paper. It provides valuable insights into the disease and offers recommendations for effective disease prevention strategies.

Donate to Support Disease Prevention Science

Research and monitoring efforts are crucial for understanding and mitigating the impacts of SCTLD and other coral diseases. Your contribution can make a significant difference in supporting ongoing scientific studies, fieldwork, and conservation initiatives aimed at preventing the spread of coral diseases. Join us in safeguarding the health of our coral reefs for future generations. [And please visit and support our partners: Roatan Marine Park and BICA]

By taking action today, we can work together to protect these fragile ecosystems, preserve biodiversity, and ensure the long-term sustainability of our planet’s coral reefs.

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The Risks with Growing and Planting Corals

In many scientific communities, “coral restoration” refers to the act of growing corals and then planting them in the wild. While it’s an incredibly popular method of coral reef conservation, research has shown that if done alone, the act of growing and planting corals is unlikely to save coral reefs. For starters, it only works if local threats to coral reefs are reduced. If corals are planted in an area where existing corals are already threatened by wastewater pollution or overfishing, then the newly planted corals don’t have a high chance of survival.

Climate change is another concern—as ocean temperatures warm, corals that aren’t heat tolerant
will have a harder time surviving. In some situations, scientists and conservationists focus just on planting coral species that are more heat tolerant. But that can be inherently risky, because it means that we as humans are picking the species that we believe will be better suited for future conditions, when we don’t know with certainty what those future conditions will be.

In some situations, corals can be bred to be more heat tolerant—these are sometimes called “super
corals.” While this sounds promising, a study that we collaborated on shows that in order for these types of outplanting projects to be effective at protecting corals from climate change, they would need to be done at a large scale for hundreds of years in conjunction with efforts to reduce local threats to coral reefs.

That’s not to say that growing corals and planting them in the wild isn’t worthwhile—it can be a great
way to repopulate an area after a storm or boat anchor damage, for example. It can also be helpful in engaging communities and tourists, and bringing more awareness to the plight of coral reefs. In fact, a lot of our partners engage in coral planting and have found it to yield promising results when combined with reducing local threats to reefs.

True Coral Restoration Goes Beyond Just Planting Corals

Outside of specific scientific and conservation communities, the term “restoration” refers to reverting something to its original or natural state. When it comes to coral reefs, that is definitely something we do—and it’s a practice that can save coral reefs.

Our programs that focus on securing clean water for reefs and addressing overfishing aim to restore coral reefs to a more natural, healthier state and protect them from human impacts. And our research shows that when we restore coral reefs in this way, they can adapt to climate change on their own—without too much human interference.

What does this kind of restoration look like on the ground? It looks like our work in West End, Roatan, in Honduras, where we helped the community operationalize a wastewater treatment plant and as a result saw the amount of coral disease drop from 25 percent to zero percent. It looks like our work in
Maui, Hawaiʻi, where over 100 volunteers have restored a section of dirt roads by using native plants to trap sediment runoff and keep it off coral reefs. And it looks like our work in Tela Bay, Honduras, where we’ve seen a 483 percent increase in fish biomass after partnering with communities to build sustainable fisheries.

All of these efforts help restore coral reefs back to a healthier state, where they not only have a better chance of adapting to climate change, but are also more resilient to disease, storm damage, bleaching, and more.

So Can Restoration Save Coral Reefs?

As our research has shown consistently, the key to protecting coral reefs long term is to restore coral reefs to a healthier state and create the conditions that will allow corals to adapt to climate change.

There are two parts to this: the first is curbing our carbon emissions to reduce the rate of climate change. There are a lot of great organizations working in this space and advancing initiatives around clean energy, sustainable production, and more. While we still have a long way to go to truly solve the climate crisis, the fact that we are seeing these conversations and this work more amplified than ever before gives us hope. We’re also doing our part by joining public calls to action, sitting on global committees to influence governments that make climate decisions, and using our position as scientists and conservationists to build more awareness around the urgency of climate action.

The second part is what we focus on at CORAL: building networks of healthy, adaptive coral reefs. We know that coral larvae can travel for miles before ultimately settling on a reef. We also know that some corals have adapted to become more heat tolerant than others. Therefore, we reduce local threats where corals are already more heat tolerant and in places where their babies are settling, which allows corals to spread their heat-tolerant genes and ultimately change the overall makeup of some coral reefs to become more heat tolerant.

So yes, coral restoration that focuses on reducing human impacts and reverting corals back to a healthier, less threatened state can save coral reefs. And in some cases, coral planting to supplement those efforts might make sense, particularly in places where threats have already been addressed.

The post What is Coral Restoration, and Can it Save Coral Reefs? appeared first on Coral Reef Alliance.

What is Coral Bleaching? 

Corals are animals, but they live in a symbiotic relationship with tiny algae called zooxanthellae. These algae provide the corals with food and oxygen, and in return, the corals provide them with a safe place to live. It’s a win-win situation! However, when corals are exposed to stressful conditions, such as high temperatures, pollution, or changes in the water’s chemistry, they expel the zooxanthellae. Without them, the coral loses its color and turns white, hence the term “bleaching.” Corals can not live very long in this state. But here’s the good news: coral bleaching doesn’t necessarily mean the end of the reef. If the stressor is removed in time, the zooxanthellae can come back and the corals can recover.

Why Should We Care?

Together, we should care about coral bleaching because coral reefs are essential to the health of our oceans and our planet. They provide a home and a source of food for countless species of fish and other marine creatures. They also protect coastlines from erosion and storms, and play a vital role in regulating the Earth’s climate by absorbing and storing carbon dioxide. When coral reefs suffer, so do the ecosystems and the people that depend on them. Additionally, coral reefs are a stunning display of biodiversity and natural beauty, and their loss would be a tragedy for future generations. By taking action to prevent and mitigate coral bleaching, we can help protect one of our planet’s most precious resources.

Our Role in Identifying Bleaching Events

The global coral bleaching monitoring program at the Coral Reef Alliance is focused on early detection of bleaching events so that we can identify reefs in need of our protection.  For example, if a bleaching event has started in an area with many tourist divers, we can influence local stakeholders to limit visitors to that reef until it can have time to recover. Through this program we have collaborators monitoring events in the water and we are also partnering with the Allen Coral Atlas to help improve their satellite-based technology  to identify bleaching in near-real time.

What Can You Do to Help?

There are many things you can do to help protect coral reefs and prevent coral bleaching. One of the most important is to reduce your carbon footprint by using less energy and supporting policies that address climate change. You can also reduce your impact on coral reefs by being a responsible traveler, choosing reef-safe sunscreens and more sustainable seafood, and avoiding activities that can damage coral, such as anchoring on reefs or touching coral. Finally, you can support organizations like the Coral Reef Alliance that work to protect and restore coral reefs around the world. 

Coral bleaching is a serious threat to coral reefs and the many species that depend on them. By understanding the causes and impacts of coral bleaching and taking action to reduce our impact on the environment, we can help protect these important ecosystems for generations to come.

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These ONSET TidBits, as they’re known, measure water temperatures every minute and store the data internally. Every four to five months, a diver heads underwater to download the data provided by the temperature loggers.

The data gives our scientists a better idea of the types of temperatures coral reefs experience in the area. But it could also be the key to helping coral reefs adapt to climate change.

Why Does Water Temperature Matter for Coral Reefs?

Most coral reefs have a narrow temperature range in which they can thrive. When waters get too warm, many hard corals will bleach—they’ll expel zooxanthellae, tiny algae that live inside the coral tissue and photosynthesize, providing the coral with an important food source. If ocean temperatures come back down within a few weeks, the zooxanthellae will return and the corals can recover. But if temperatures stay high, the corals can ultimately die. 

Across the globe we’re seeing an increase in both the frequency and severity of coral bleaching events as ocean temperatures rise.

But there is hope. Some corals have survived warming ocean temperatures—these heat-tolerant corals are the key to spreading heat tolerance to other reefs, which will be crucial as ocean temperatures continue to warm. If we protect corals on “hot reefs,” as well as the cooler reefs where their larvae are settling, we can help coral reefs adapt to future environmental conditions and evolve. And gaining a better understanding of the temperature ranges that coral reefs typically experience will help us get there. 

Turning the Science into Action

Governments, scientists, communities, and conservationists work diligently around the world to put protections into place for their marine environments. So how can we help them design protected area networks in a way that allows for the spread of heat-tolerant genes? 

Our TidBit research hopes to inform this question. 

The temperature loggers were placed at 20 sites around the Bay Islands, with two loggers per site, about 200-400 meters apart. Scientists took georeferenced photos of the reef along the transects between the two temperature loggers, so temperature data can be compared to a reef’s composition. Now, we can start to answer questions like “can reefs with more species diversity or greater structural complexity also tolerate more heat?”

Scientists hypothesize that by better understanding the relationship between a reef’s structure and a reef’s temperature range, we can create a tool that would allow practitioners around the world to estimate a coral reef’s adaptation potential. 

Let’s say there is a strong relationship between reef structure and heat tolerance—for example, reefs that are more structurally complex tend to be more heat tolerant. If that’s the case, then couldn’t tools like the Allen Coral Atlas, that can detect a reef’s structure using satellite imagery, also tell us whether or not a reef is more heat tolerant? And if the Atlas is free and online, then couldn’t governments use it to help determine which reefs they should protect based on which reefs are more likely to spread heat tolerance?

Paving the Way Forward

We are actively working with our local partners to gather and analyze the Tidbit data that is being collected across Honduras. We’re also looking to expand the TidBit data collection to other locations to see if the relationship between reef structural complexity and temperature in the Mesoamerican Reef region is the same in other locations. 

With our partners, we’re investigating whether we can use tools like the Atlas to provide open-access information about a coral reef’s adaptation potential. And if the answer is positive, it could change how marine protected area networks are prioritized and designed for decades to come. 

The post Could Underwater Thermometers Help Save Coral Reefs from Climate Change? appeared first on Coral Reef Alliance.

If we don’t curb greenhouse gas emissions and slow the warming of our oceans, 99% of the world’s coral reefs are predicted to be gone by the end of this century. Indeed, reefs are already in serious decline. So it might surprise you to hear that within the next few hundred years, corals could adapt, rebound, and survive if given the chance to evolve. The key? Genetic variation. 

Genetic variation is the fuel of evolution. It’s also a big part of what makes every individual organism on this planet unique. Even the slightest genetic differences can lead to discrepancies in height, eye color, the probability of contracting diseases, and other distinctions. Organisms with genes that are best adapted to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce, sending their unique genetic code on to the next generation. This process is known as natural selection. Over multiple generations of natural selection, species can begin to display new traits and characteristics—you’ve likely heard this referred to as evolution. 

It stands to reason that the more genetically diverse a population of organisms is, the more diverse its pool of individuals will be, and the more likely that some of those individuals will be able to adapt to whatever circumstances arise. It’s this idea that is essential to coral reefs surviving the heat stress created by climate change. 

In an article published in Global Change Biology last year, CORAL team members and partners confirmed that genetically diverse coral reef networks were much more likely to survive warming waters than their less diverse counterparts. The graph (Figure 1a from the paper) illustrates a number of simulations run for the Caribbean region. In the graph, RCP8.5 represents a high-greenhouse gas emissions scenario (leading to a warmer planet and warmer oceans), while in RCP4.5, emissions are stabilized. You’ll notice that corals without genetic variability (V = 0) were wiped out completely with high emissions and barely survived with low emissions. Corals with moderate variability (V = .01) were able to recover in a cooler climate scenario, but perished under the high-emissions scenario. And corals with high variability (V = 0.1) survived regardless of climate circumstances.

When these simulations were run on coral reefs in other regions across the globe, corals behaved very similarly. The key takeaways: 1) genetic variability is critical to coral reef survival, and 2) we must meet corals halfway by acting urgently to reduce emissions.

Our research also found that genetic connections between coral reefs were crucial to their prospects. When corals reproduce, their larvae move with ocean currents and can be carried along to other reefs, where they settle and grow. That means coral reefs are genetically connected to one another through flows of larvae from reef to reef. According to our research, coral reefs that received larger amounts of larvae from other reefs were more likely to survive the effects of climate change than those that received fewer. This was especially true for reefs in colder water that received heat-adapted larvae from hotter reefs. In short, preserving genetic variability is important, but so is promoting genetic exchange, especially from reefs that are already adapted to high temperatures. 

These findings present us with a few key implications for how we can help corals survive warming oceans. First, we must reduce carbon emissions and slow the rate of climate change to give corals a fighting chance. National governments in countries that are most responsible for global carbon emissions must bear the brunt of this work, but individuals can make a difference as well. Second, we must protect a diversity of reefs that are themselves genetically diverse. Doing so increases the odds that heat-adapted individuals will be present and naturally selected. Third, we can’t just protect individual patches of reef; we must ensure that reefs are protected in connected networks to allow the exchange of genes. And finally, we must pay particular attention to the presence of hot reefs in these networks, which should allow heat-adapted larvae to spread to other reefs. 

There’s one last piece of the puzzle to coral reef survival: reducing additional pressure from local stressors. When confronted with threats, such as wastewater pollution or overfishing, reefs are less likely to recover from coral bleaching events. We must make sure corals aren’t hit from multiple angles at once by tackling these issues. 

Through global conservation science and locally-based efforts, CORAL is leading the charge on making this vision for coral reef survival a reality. In Hawai’i and the Mesoamerican Reef region, our conservation teams are improving water quality, protecting reefs from overfishing, and eliminating as much additional pressure on these ecosystems as possible so they’re able to withstand the threat of climate change. 

Meanwhile, our Global Conservation Science team is turning this science into action by influencing and leveraging partners, fieldwork, and technology to drive adaptation-focused conservation solutions that will rescue coral reefs from the effects of climate change. Our approach consists of three main pillars: 

1. Supporting conservation practitioners by developing tools they can use to identify and protect reef networks capable of adaptation.
2. Influencing the conversation about coral reef conservation and conducting outreach efforts to make adaptation an important part of the dialogue on coral reef protection.
3. Teaming up with partners and allies, such as the Ocean Sewage Alliance and the Improving Coastal Health team of the Science for Nature and People Partnership (SNAPP), to magnify impact. 

If you’re a coral reef conservation practitioner, we hope you’ll consider the principles described above as you approach reef protection. And, no matter who you are, we hope you’ll use your voice to advocate for climate-smart policies, and invest in CORAL’s groundbreaking work to save coral reefs. We invite you to explore our website, coral.org, to learn more about what we do and about our approach to conservation.  

The post Coral Reefs Can Adapt to Climate Change – Here’s How  appeared first on Coral Reef Alliance.

In recent weeks, field scientists and marine park authorities have reported signs of minor to severe bleaching on different sections of the Great Barrier Reef and so far, our observations through the Allen Coral Atlas (the Atlas) also confirm this data. 

The event is developing as the United Nations does a 10-day monitoring mission of the Great Barrier Reef, with results to be discussed at an important World Heritage Committee meeting in June. 

How Can the Atlas Be Used During Coral Bleaching Events? 

We are working directly with the Atlas, the world’s first comprehensive map of shallow water coral reefs, to improve monitoring of bleaching events. Thanks to advanced algorithms and more than 2 million high-resolution satellite images, we can detect the conditions of coral reefs in different parts of the world.

The Atlas is testing a new bleaching monitoring system that measures the brightness of coral reefs and categorizes whether bleaching risk is low, moderate, or severe. CORAL’s Program and Outreach Manager, Andrea Rivera-Sosa, is currently collaborating with field scientists in Australia to groundtruth the data collected by the tool.

“Many scientists are monitoring right now and sharing information on reef conditions. By matching their findings with the Atlas’s bleaching monitoring system, we can help validate the Atlas’s algorithm,” says Rivera-Sosa. “This will further strengthen the capacity of the bleaching monitoring system to better inform scientists around the world.” 

If the Atlas can successfully determine where and when bleaching occurs, it will help scientists better track these events, and help communities advocate for regulations that reduce local stressors in areas impacted by bleaching. Minimizing direct threats, like overfishing and water pollution, while also reducing carbon emissions, will give coral reefs a better chance of surviving and recuperating from these widespread bleaching events, and ultimately adapting to warmer waters.

What Could Bleaching Events Mean for Coral Reefs? 

The first global mass bleaching event occurred in 1998, and sadly, these instances have become more and more frequent. Scientists and environment advocates are strongly urging governments, corporations, and individuals to take actions that will help reduce global C02 emissions. As for coral reef experts, we are working to keep reefs healthy enough to survive the warming temperatures. 

When ocean waters are too warm, coral reefs get stressed. As a reaction, hard corals expel their small, symbiotic algae called zooxanthellae, which live in the coral tissue and act as their primary food source. Without zooxanthellae, corals begin to bleach and are at risk of dying if they remain in this state for too long. 

We’ve already lost 14 percent of the world’s corals in the last decade and we can’t afford to lose more. After all, coral reefs act as a home to 25 percent of marine species, protect coastlines, boost economies, and feed millions of people. We need to act now—to protect the Great Barrier Reef and other key reef networks around the world. 

Inspired to give back? Help advance cutting-edge technology that will keep coral reefs healthy. By making a donation to CORAL, you will support scientists around the world that are fighting to keep these vital ecosystems alive. 

The post The Great Barrier Reef is Hit With Another Mass Bleaching Event. Here’s How We’re Responding appeared first on Coral Reef Alliance.