Researchers use 3D printing technology to rebuild coral reefs – Israel News



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Israeli researchers use 3D printing technology to rebuild coral reefs

A man snorkels in an area called "Coral Gardens" near Lady Elliot Island on the Great Barrier Reef.
(photo credit: REUTERS)

Researchers from Technion University, Ben Gurion University of Negev and Bar Ilan University collaborated on a project to rebuild coral reef systems around the world, using a 3D printing model to create artificial coral structures, according to a study published by the universities.

Due to the continuing degradation of coral reef systems around the world, the technology currently being applied on the Eilat coast will help restore the diversity of the underwater ecosystem by introducing these structures fabricated into systems. who are probably unable to regenerate themselves.

Coral reefs all over the world are disappearing for many reasons, due to natural or man-made causes, mainly due to the overheating of water affected by climate change, dynamite fishing, the presence of chemicals in sunscreens as well as invasive fish such as the lion, a species of fish that hunts coral reef dwellers.

More than thirty percent of the Great Barrier Reef, the world's largest coral reef system in the Coral Sea off the coast of Australia, has been hit by heatwaves in 2016 and 2017, raising the temperature from water to uninhabitable levels for these natural systems – scientists have indicated that if the Earth's average temperature increases by 4 degrees Fahrenheit, almost all the world's coral reef systems would be lost, which are used as essential nurseries for many species of fish, serving to feed more than one billion people a year.

The 3D printed reefs can mimic natural forms that attract different species of fish, to use these artificial structures as nurseries, in order to bring back the living fish population that once inhabited the coral reefs of Eilat.

"It is known that many factors affect the possible recruitment of reef organisms, especially fish." An important factor is the structural complexity of a coral colony, which in turn provides shelter to fish that It has been shown that coral structural complexity is correlated with reef biodiversity, "the researchers said.

The 3D printer uses polyacetic acid, a biodegradable and bioactive bioplastic made from corn, cassava or sugarcane, to design these columnar structures to be subsequently installed in the home. water. From there, the columns are then individually planted with farmed coral to mimic the complexity of coral reef ecosystems.

In theory, these efforts will recruit important fish species into these areas to attempt to completely rebuild the barren reefs along the Eilat coast.

Scientists have played with many different shapes, colors and materials to find the final design product off the coast of Israel – early indicators suggest that the preferences of many of these species differ in contrasting combinations of materials and materials. colors. rejected other combinations.

"As a research group of marine biologists and designers, we seek to find next practices and tools to explore the ecological features of coral morphology," said the researchers. "We believe that the rehabilitation and management of coral reefs, as well as the construction of artificial reefs, require a better understanding of how the morphology of a coral colony interacts with its inhabitants."

In this specific study, scientists use 3D manipulation and printing to better understand whether artificial structures can promote a natural ecosystem, the fish species essential to recruitment for these ecosystems to thrive, as well as the benefits associated with the use of advanced design tools. such as 3D scanning and manipulation to create artificial corals.

"Successful implementation of this study can improve our understanding of coral interactions with their environment, provide design tools for public presentations such as large-scale aquariums and thus reduce their dependence on coral reefs. live, and provide valuable guidelines and design tools to approach the issue of active coral reef restoration, "explained the researchers.

"The biological results of the research must be analyzed and analyzed before they can be published, but the design phase of the process ended when the second phase, during which 20 objects were installed in the Red Sea for observation. First results show that fish and invertebrates use 3D printed corals and find them a good "home" in which they trust to lay their eggs [in], "they concluded.

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