Selective breeding emerges as lifeline to boost coral resilience: Study

17

Sydney, June 9 (IANS) Selectively breeding corals can significantly boost their heat tolerance, offering a short-term lifeline for the world’s endangered reef systems as ocean temperatures rise due to climate change, new research said on Monday.

Researchers successfully bred heat-tolerant corals at Ningaloo Reef, a World Heritage site off Australia’s northwest coast. Like many others globally, the reef faces increasing threats from marine heatwaves and mass bleaching events, according to a release from Minderoo Foundation in Western Australia that supported the research project.

Coral offspring with at least one parent from warmer reef zones had double the survival rate under extreme heat stress compared to those from cooler regions, said the team at Minderoo Foundation, alongside partners from the University of Western Australia, James Cook University in Queensland, the University of Bremen in Germany, and Texas A&M University in the United States.

“Coral babies with at least one parent from the warmer reef exhibited significantly higher survival rates under heat stress,” said Kate Quigley, Principal Research Scientist at Minderoo Foundation.

“This marks the first successful demonstration of how selectively breeding Indian Ocean corals can boost heat tolerance and signals a crucial tool to aid reef survival in the short term,” said Australian businessman Andrew Forrest, co-founder of the Minderoo Foundation.

“The world must arrest warming ocean temperatures urgently or face the very real prospect of the death of a majority of coral reefs globally within 50 years,” Forrest said.

The findings come as mass bleaching events have affected 84 per cent of the world’s reefs across at least 82 countries and territories since 2023, Xinhua news agency reported. In March 2025, both Ningaloo and the Great Barrier Reef on either side of Australia experienced simultaneous bleaching for the first time.

These findings are vital for shaping coral reef protection strategies as marine heatwaves intensify, potentially buying time for reefs while the world shifts away from fossil fuels, the main driver of extreme climate impacts, Quigley said.

Coral reefs are vital to the livelihoods of millions, protect coastlines, and support over a quarter of marine biodiversity, but have suffered steep global declines.

–IANS

int/as

Go to Source

Disclaimer

The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by BhaskarLive.in and while we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.

In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website.

Through this website you are able to link to other websites which are not under the control of BhaskarLive.in We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.

Every effort is made to keep the website up and running smoothly. However, BhaskarLive.in takes no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond our control.

For any legal details or query please visit original source link given with news or click on Go to Source.

Our translation service aims to offer the most accurate translation possible and we rarely experience any issues with news post. However, as the translation is carried out by third part tool there is a possibility for error to cause the occasional inaccuracy. We therefore require you to accept this disclaimer before confirming any translation news with us.

If you are not willing to accept this disclaimer then we recommend reading news post in its original language.

MGID