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November 27, 2018 12:48:55
Scientists Undertake the Largest and Most Complicated Coral Rehabilitation Attempt Ever Undertaken on the Great Barrier Reef as part of an Unprecedented New Project That Could Help Save the Endangered Coral Reefs Around the World whole.
Some have dubbed the project "IVF for the Great Barrier Reef".
Professor Peter Harrison, of Southern Cross University, said researchers were collecting millions of eggs and coral sperm during the magnificent and annual outbreak of coral spawning on the reef this week in the first step of this ambitious project.
"This is the largest larva restoration project ever undertaken not only in the Great Barrier Reef but around the world," he said.
"It's really exciting.
"For the first time, we will try to scale literally millions of eggs and sperm during the laying of corals.We are building floating egg-laying sensors off Moore Reef off Cairns."
Innovative idea to give coral the best chance to live
Professor Harrison said scientists would cultivate the tiny corals in the dams for about a week and that when the larvae were ready they would be introduced into the most damaged parts of the reef.
He said that everything was to repair the damage caused by mbad laundering in 2016 and 2017.
"On the Great Barrier Reef, we lost more than half of the corals in these two recent bleaching episodes," he said.
"The future is not bright for reef systems around the world unless we can manage climate change.
"We have lost so many corals that fewer corals are able to reproduce and fertilization rates are going to be lower and billions of reef larvae need to be naturally replenished. [won’t be produced].
"In the meantime, we have to start looking how to get [restorations projects like this] on a large scale to make it meaningful. "
El Nino forecasts make human intervention more vital
The Bureau of Meteorology predicts a 70% probability that El Nino weather will form this summer, which is badociated with higher and more extreme temperatures and fewer cyclones.
"It is really urgent to do it now, starting this year, because we are likely to see another mbadive development of El Nino develop, which will result in an increase in the sea temperature and a probability increased another big bleaching, "said Professor Harrison.
David Wachenfeld, Chief Scientist for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Directorate, agreed with this opinion and said that corals would continue to be stressed as temperatures rise.
"The problem is that humans are changing, the climate is warming and the reef is warming – which means that the conditions that lead to coral bleaching and mortality are more frequent and more severe," he said. declared.
"Right now, the reef is struggling to survive, it is beaten and bruised, but it is resistant.
"But if we continue as we are, the reef will not be able to keep up and we will not be able to do anything locally, so it is vital to do everything we can to reduce greenhouse gases.
"We must fight climate change locally, but we are working alongside scientists to develop techniques that will help us in the future."
Marine Science Researcher Katie Chartrand said the project was being conducted in collaboration with the James Cook University, the Southern Cross University and the Sydney University of Technology, with the following: help from international researchers and tourism organizations.
"We have 55 people involved in this project," she said.
"We also have teams from the Philippines to participate."
While most of the coral spawning is grown on the reef, some has been brought back to laboratories where scientists will experiment further to find the best way to promote growth.
Ms. Chartrand said the breeding coral was leaning on the algae to grow.
She added that Cairns researchers were using coral pontoons collected by scientists on the reef this week to determine what types of algae gave the coral the best chance of survival.
Reef restoration project could become global
Professor Harrison said the scale of the operation was unprecedented but needed to be expanded further.
"This project is the first large-scale attempt to effectively bring back millions of larvae into the reef system," he said.
"We then plan to scale it up to the hectare scale and in the next few years we are aiming for a scale per square kilometer.
"The scale of the reef damage worldwide is enormous, more than 70% of the world's coral reefs are already severely degraded and an additional 10-20% are facing the impending pressure of human population growth.
"We have to operate at much bigger scales in the future."
Ms. Chartrand said that if the project succeeds, it could be applied to damaged reefs around the world.
"We're not just talking about using this technology here on the Great Barrier Reef, it's something that needs to be developed and made available globally, particularly to help restore the source reefs, these reefs that really help the coral babies to other surrounding reefs, "she says.
"[Outside the box thinking] is critical, it is about getting real solutions and getting a result for the reef. "
Topics:
environment,
oceans and reefs,
Great Barrier Reef,
science and technology,
research,
research organizations,
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Hervey Bay, 4655,
Gladstone 4680,
bundaberg-4670,
rockhampton-4700
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Townsville-4810
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