Healthy corals help bleached counterparts recover
A laboratory experiment shows that contact with genetically identical healthy coral fragments can greatly accelerate recovery.
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Researchers at Stanford observed bleached coral fragments fully recover in a laboratory after coming into contact with healthy fragments from the same colony. The study was published in Science Advances, but the method has not yet been tested on natural reefs and is not currently applicable on a large scale.
Coral bleaches when it loses its symbiotic algae under stress. These algae provide an important share of the energy coral needs to grow. If the stress continues, the coral can weaken or die. Recovery is possible, but in nature it often takes months or years.
The Stanford researchers investigated whether healthy coral could transfer those algae again. They made ten pairs of fragments from the same colony: one bleached and one healthy. In five pairs, the fragments touched; in the other five, the researchers kept them a few millimetres apart.
According to the study, the fragments that touched recovered fully within seven weeks. The bleached fragments that did not come into contact with one another died. Under the microscope, the researchers saw that the tissues of genetically identical fragments could connect with each other. Algae and nutrients flowed through that connection to the bleached fragment.
The transfer began quickly. The researchers observed movement of the beneficial algae within three days. After five days to a week of contact, some trials showed that enough algal material had been transferred for recovery to continue even after separation.
The finding is primarily of scientific and experimental significance. Each bleached colony would require a healthy, genetically compatible donor. That makes direct application to large reefs unfeasible for the time being. The cause of much bleaching also remains: warmer seas and other forms of environmental stress.
The researchers therefore want to continue looking for ways to preserve beneficial algae in advance and administer them later without prolonged contact between two coral fragments. The study shows that bleached coral is not necessarily immediately lost, but it does not yet constitute a proven recovery technique for wild reefs.
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The results, design and limitations are described in the peer-reviewed study and the accompanying Stanford publication. The article makes clear that this is laboratory research and not a proven rescue technique for natural reefs.
- confirmed Bleached coral fragments recovered in the laboratory within seven weeks after coming into contact with healthy genetically identical fragments. — This is stated in the study and the Stanford summary. source
- confirmed The researchers tested ten pairs of bleached and healthy fragments. — The experimental design is described in the Stanford publication. source
- confirmed Beneficial algae began moving to the bleached fragment within three days. — The researchers describe this observation in the results. source
- confirmed The method is not yet directly applicable to large natural reefs. — The researchers cite the need for genetically identical healthy copies as a key limitation. source
Editor's note
The research is peer-reviewed and shows recovery in a laboratory experiment. The approach has not yet been tested on natural reefs and requires genetically compatible healthy fragments.Sources
- Stanford scientists discover a way to reverse coral bleaching at record speed — Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability
- Rapid coral bleaching recovery via symbiont transfer from healthy corals — Science Advances
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