Photo: ecowatch.com/Alexis Rosenfeld

Alex Bowser

Science/Tech Editor

akb6244@psu.edu

It should be no secret that the coral reef ecosystems are being threatened in all oceans worldwide. Many warning signs have risen to the public’s attention in the last decade, but very few strides have been made to turn the dying ecosystems around.

As a result, many of the coral reefs in our oceans are turning white due to the warming of the oceans, pollution, and overfishing to name a few. However, once these coral reefs become bleached, it’s difficult for them to turn back. But if the stress on the coral continues, the coral dies.

Experts and scientists at both the University of Hawaii and Michigan State University are looking to find solutions that could prevent the death of any more coral reefs, seeking answers in a different way rather than calling the people for help. Scientists want to try to help these reefs by creating ways to allow the coral reefs to endure and be able to survive environmental threats.

Crawford Drury, a coral biologist at the University of Hawaii in Manoa’s Hawaii Institute for Marine Biology, added how “It’s disheartening to watch, but I try to think of it as an opportunity.”

Between 2014 to 2017, there was a global ocean heatwave. This heatwave caused the bleaching of about 75 percent of the world’s tropical coral reefs during this timeframe. Kaneohe Bay in Hawaii was an example of how destructive this heatwave was to the ecosystem, bleaching nearly half of its coral reefs according to Michigan State University.

But the color isn’t the only loss with the dying coral. Algae have a symbiotic relationship with coral reefs that both rely on. Algae live in the coral’s tissue, using it as shelter. In return, the algae provide the coral with food which creates their vibrant colors. However, when high temperatures cause the coral too much stress, the coral expels the algae from their system.

When bleaching occurs in the coral reefs, the algae is leaving the coral, causing the white coloration of the coral reefs due to the loss of food being provided by the algae. It’s possible for the coral to survive these events, but if prolonged by the stresses of the environment’s unusually high temperatures, the coral will die off.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 500 million people around the world depend on the coral reefs for food. The reefs also help protect communities against floods and storm damages, which helps save families almost $94 million every year.

Professor Karine Kleinhaus from Stony Brook University in the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences explains that “Coral reefs are biodiversity reservoirs and significant sources of food, income, and pharmaceuticals. We have a small window of opportunity remaining to apply science to rescue the world’s degrading reefs.”

In 2005, the United States lost over half of its coral reefs found in the Caribbean within the year. Warm waters centered near the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico caused a massive bleaching event that created thermal stress even greater than the previous 20 years combined.

In January 2010, the water wasn’t too warm but was rather cold. The Florida Keys had unusually cold water temperatures that caused another coral bleaching event resulting in the death of many of their coral. The temperature was over 12 degrees lower than the typical temperatures in January for Florida.

Universities like Michigan State and the University of Hawaii want to dive deeper in figuring out whether these cold temperatures could potentially create more stress for the coral than warmer water temperatures. In addition, they want to know why some corals are more vulnerable to these bleaching events than others.

Their current findings have found that there are actually two different communities of algae that live within coral. Inside algae cells, there are fatty acid compounds known as lipids. If the algae contain saturated lipids, the coral is more likely to be resistant to bleaching, and if unsaturated, the coral is more susceptible.

Robert Quinn, an assistant professor in the department of biochemistry and molecular biology explained how “This is not unlike the difference between oil and margarine, the latter having more saturated fat, making it solid at room temperature.” Because of the temperature effects on bleaching, saturated fatty acids such as lipids similarly help protect the coral.