Restoration cannot be scaled up globally to save reefs from loss and degradation

Restoration cannot be scaled up globally to save reefs from loss and degradation

Coral restoration is gaining popularity as part of a continuum of approaches addressing the widespread, recurring mass mortality events of corals that—together with elevated and chronic mortality, slower growth and recruitment failure—threaten the persistence of coral reefs worldwide. However, the monetary costs associated with broad-scale coral restoration are massive, making widespread implementation challenging, especially with the lack of co…

Coral reef restoring costly, premature, and doomed to fail

Global restoration efforts are failing to protect coral reefs from the effects of climate change, pollution and overfishing, says an international team of researchers The report comes as Australia’s coral reefs have been bleached yet again, for the sixth time in nine years. Coral reef bleaching is a global phenomenon, its effects felt not only by the millions of organisms which rely on these ecosystems for food and shelter, but by the more than …

New Study Sheds Light on Saving Coral Reefs - Vacationer Magazine

As coral bleaching and marine deaths become more widespread globally, experts are re-evaluating the benefits of restoration missions to reverse damage and protect some of the world’s most species-rich ecosystems. Earth Day is April 22, and the ocean’s health is vital to consider for Earth Day because it covers over 70% of the planet, regulates climate, produces a significant portion of our oxygen, and supports a vast array of life.  When sea tem…

Skeletal morphometrics suggests high fitness of hybrid coral recruits under ocean warming and acidification - Ocean Acidification

Anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions increase sea surface temperature and acidification, inhibiting calcification of reef-building corals. While ocean acidification is known to hinder skeletal development of newly settled coral recruits, little is known of its effects on older purebred or interspecific hybrid recruits, or its combined effects with temperature. Using 3D X-ray microscopy, we found that […] The post Skeletal morphometrics suggest…

Coral Reefs Release a Wealth of Chemicals, Powering Vibrant Microbial

Recent findings have underscored the incredible biochemical complexity of coral reefs, revealing that an astonishing array of chemicals emitted by tropical corals and seaweeds are available for microbial communities to decompose and utilize. This groundbreaking research, led by an international team from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, emphasizes the essential role these relationships play in the i…

Reality check for reviving dead and dying coral reefs

Expensive and up against climate change, experts say restoration is a drop in the ocean when it comes to protecting coral reefs.