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By PTI
SYDNEY: Scientists have launched the largest ever attempt at coral regeneration on the endangered Great Barrier Reef by harvesting millions of eggs and sperm during their annual spawning.
The researchers announced Wednesday their intention to grow coral larvae from the harvested eggs and return them to areas of the reef that have been severely damaged by coral bleaching due to climate.
"This is the first time that the entire process of large scale larval rearing and settlement will be done directly on the reefs of the Great Barrier Reef," said one of the Project Leaders, Peter Harrison of Southern Cross University.
"Our team will restore hundreds of square meters in order to reach square kilometers in the future, a scale that has not been tried before," he said. said in a statement.
The launch of the "Larval Restoration Project" has been planned to coincide with the annual coral spawning on the reef begun earlier This week will only last about 48 to 72 hours.
Corals along large slopes of the 2,300-km reef have been killed by rising sea temperatures due to climate change, leaving behind skeletal remains. coral bleaching.
The northern parts of the reef experienced unprecedented bleaching for two consecutive years in 2016 and 2017, raising fears of irreparable damage.
Harrison and his colleagues hope that their re-seeding project will help reverse the trend, but warned that the effort would not be enough to save the reef.
"Climate action is the only way to ensure the survival of coral reefs," he said.
"Our An approach to reef restoration aims to give coral populations time to survive and evolve until emissions are stabilized and our climate stabilizes." [19659003ScientistshopethatcoralsthathavesurvivedbleachingtoleratetherisingclimatebetterResearcherswhoalsoincludeexpertsfromJamesCookUniversityandtheUniversityofTechnologySydney(UTS)haveannouncedanoveltyoftheirreseedingprojectconsistedofgrowingcorallarvaewithmicroscopicalgae
The two live in symbiosis on the reef. the rapid absorption of algae can stimulate corals, "said David Suggett of UTS.
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