Building endurance to beat the heat: New study preps corals for warming waters

Guinea pig corals endure heat stress to build endurance. Credit: NOAA AOML

In a recent study published in the journal Coral Reefs, scientists at NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) found that staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornis) fragments exposed to an oscillating temperature treatment were better able to respond to heat stress caused by warming oceans.

With the rise in ocean temperatures and more frequent bleaching events, research is being conducted on techniques to improve the survivorship of nursery-raised corals outplanted on degraded reefs. Previous studies have shown that corals growing in environments with natural temperature variability experience less bleaching when exposed to increased temperatures. 

Coral bleaching, a process in which the colorful algae living inside the coral’s tissue is expelled, leaving the coral white in appearance, can occur as a response to stressors like increased water temperatures. Bleached corals are in a stressed state, vulnerable to disease but may sometimes recover. 

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