{"623313":{"#nid":"623313","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Biodiversity helps coral reefs thrive \u2013 and could be part of strategies to save them","body":[{"value":"\u003Ch4\u003EBy Cody Clements\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EEditor\u0026#39;s Note: This article was\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/theconversation.com\/biodiversity-helps-coral-reefs-thrive-and-could-be-part-of-strategies-to-save-them-111723\u0022\u003Epublished originally on June 25, 2019, in The Conversation.\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;It is republished here through the Creative Common License.\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECoral reefs are home to so many species that they often are called \u0026ldquo;the rainforests of the seas.\u0026rdquo; Today they face a daunting range of threats, including\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/oceanservice.noaa.gov\/facts\/coralreef-climate.html\u0022\u003Eocean warming and acidification\u003C\/a\u003E,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/oceanservice.noaa.gov\/facts\/coral-overfishing.html\u0022\u003Eoverfishing\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;and\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/oceanservice.noaa.gov\/facts\/coral-pollution.html\u0022\u003Epollution\u003C\/a\u003E. Worldwide, more than one-third of all coral species are\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1126\/science.1159196\u0022\u003Eat risk of extinction\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EI am one of many scientists who are\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/scholar.google.com\/citations?user=hIj0CIAAAAAJ\u0026amp;hl=en\u0022\u003Estudying corals\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;to find ways of helping them survive and recover. As a recent report from the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine shows, researchers are exploring\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nap.edu\/catalog\/25279\/a-research-review-of-interventions-to-increase-the-persistence-and-resilience-of-coral-reefs\u0022\u003Emany different strategies\u003C\/a\u003E. Some, such as managed breeding to make corals more tolerant of stresses, are already being developed at small scales. Others, such as moving corals to colonize new areas, have not been tested yet.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMy own work examines whether greater diversity of coral species on reefs can help corals survive and thrive. In a study published earlier this year, my colleague\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/scholar.google.com\/citations?user=EAzpJiQAAAAJ\u0026amp;hl=en\u0022\u003EMark Hay\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;and I found evidence that\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/s41559-018-0752-7\u0022\u003Ethe answer is yes\u003C\/a\u003E. This finding could help to inform broader strategies for making coral reefs more resilient in altered oceans.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch2\u003EIn nature, more is better\u003C\/h2\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAre ecosystems healthier if they contain many species than if they harbor only a few? This is a central question in ecology. Generally, scientists have found that ecosystems with more diverse\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/socratic.org\/questions\/what-s-the-difference-between-a-keystone-species-and-a-foundation-species\u0022\u003Efoundation species\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u0026ndash; those that\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.isci.2019.02.020\u0022\u003Edefine a system and are inseparable from it\u003C\/a\u003E, such as trees in a forest \u0026ndash; tend to be\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/ncomms2328\u0022\u003Ehealthier and function better\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EUntil recently, no one had applied this test to coral reefs. But we do know that healthy coral reefs are diverse, structurally complex ecosystems dominated by corals. In contrast, reefs that have been damaged by stresses such as\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/oceanservice.noaa.gov\/facts\/coral_bleach.html\u0022\u003Ecoral bleaching events\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;tend to become simplified, less diverse landscapes, often dominated by seaweeds.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFor our study we chose a reef area on the southwestern coast of Fiji\u0026rsquo;s main island, Viti Levu, in the South Pacific. Many reefs along this coast have been heavily degraded by overfishing and other human-related activities, reducing coral cover and allowing seaweeds to dominate.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThere are hundreds of coral species across the Pacific, but at smaller scales, we found just five species or fewer during preliminary surveys conducted on the degraded reef at our site. Since these conditions mirror what is happening to many reefs worldwide, we saw it as an ideal place to test whether coral diversity matters for the \u0026ldquo;new normal\u0026rdquo; that we expect to see on reefs of the future.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch2\u003EUnderwater gardens\u003C\/h2\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOur team created 48 concrete plots on the seafloor of the degraded reef, which served as the bases for experimental coral gardens. We created single-species gardens that each contained one of three coral species \u0026ndash;\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003EPocillopora damicornis\u003C\/em\u003E, commonly known as cauliflower coral;\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003EPorites cylindrica\u003C\/em\u003E, also known as yellow finger coral; and\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003EAcropora millepora\u003C\/em\u003E, one of a number species known as staghorn corals. We also planted mixed gardens containing all three species.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWe chose these corals because they are common to reefs across the Pacific and are representative of different coral families that have shown varying responses to a variety of harmful disturbances. In all, each garden contained 18 coral individuals, for a total of 864 corals.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETo assess each coral\u0026rsquo;s performance as it grew, we needed to remove them from their plots periodically. So we cut off the tops of hundreds of soda bottles and planted an individual coral in the upside-down neck of each bottle with epoxy putty. We embedded the bottle caps into our concrete slabs so that we could easily unscrew each bottle neck to examine the coral it held, then screw it back into its base. Over 16 months we weighed the corals and tracked other measures of their well-being, including tissue death and colonization of each garden by harmful seaweeds.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWe consistently found that corals grown in mixed-species gardens performed better than those in single-species plots. Within four months, coral growth in the mixed-species gardens was even exceeding the best-performing single-species gardens. This suggests that different species may benefit each other in yet unknown ways, at least during early stages of a coral community\u0026rsquo;s development.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch2\u003EWhy is more better?\u003C\/h2\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe next question is what drove the effects that we observed. We hope to investigate a number of leads in future experiments. For example, farmers commonly observe that\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1146\/annurev-phyto-082712-102246\u0022\u003Eplanting a diverse mix of crops helps to reduce the spread of infectious diseases\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;among individuals. Could the same be true for coral reefs?\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOur initial findings offer both concern and hope for the future of coral reefs. If diversity is integral to coral well-being, then continued species loss could dramatically alter these ecosystems in ways that lead to further reef decline. How many parts can be removed from the \u0026ldquo;ecosystem engine\u0026rdquo; before it breaks down?\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThat said, many of the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nap.edu\/read\/25279\/chapter\/2#3\u0022\u003Estrategies in the National Academies report\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;involve using biodiversity \u0026ndash; both at the genetic and species level \u0026ndash; to enhance coral reef resilience. Examples include cross-breeding corals between populations; altering coral genes to give them new functions, such as higher heat tolerance; and moving stress-tolerant corals or coral genes to new locations.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EPromising advances in technology, such as\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/06\/10\/science\/coral-reefs-mapping-biodiversity.html\u0022\u003Emapping coral reefs from the air\u003C\/a\u003E, may also help researchers assess coral health and determine which species they contain. This baseline information may help better inform management and restoration efforts.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECorals are in trouble, but they aren\u0026rsquo;t down for the count yet. Perhaps harnessing the power of their remaining biodiversity can help give them a fighting chance.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003ECody Clements is\u0026nbsp;a marine ecologist and currently the Teasley Postdoctoral Fellow at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia. His research interests focus on understanding how ecological interactions such as predation shape coral reef community dynamics in a rapidly changing ocean, as well as integrating these insights into conservation strategies that can promote human health and well-being.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EClements receives funding from the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the National Geographic Society, and the Teasley Endowment to the Georgia Institute of Technology.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":" Increasing species diversity can help corals survive and thrive"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWork to\u0026nbsp; examineswhether greater diversity of coral species on reefs can help corals survive and thrive found evidence that\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/s41559-018-0752-7\u0022\u003Ethe answer is yes\u003C\/a\u003E. This finding could help\u0026nbsp;inform broader strategies to make coral reefs more resilient in altered oceans.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":" Greater diversity of coral species on reefs can help corals survive and thrive."}],"uid":"30678","created_gmt":"2019-07-15 14:43:12","changed_gmt":"2019-07-15 15:25:35","author":"A. Maureen Rouhi","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2019-07-17T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2019-07-17T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"623319":{"id":"623319","type":"image","title":"Cody Clements, the coral gardener","body":null,"created":"1563202513","gmt_created":"2019-07-15 14:55:13","changed":"1563202513","gmt_changed":"2019-07-15 14:55:13","alt":"","file":{"fid":"237385","name":"cody_clements.GTbiosci.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/cody_clements.GTbiosci.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/cody_clements.GTbiosci.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":316857,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/cody_clements.GTbiosci.jpg?itok=qP21HVsI"}},"623316":{"id":"623316","type":"image","title":"Porites cylindrica coral (Credit Cody Clements CC-BY ND)","body":null,"created":"1563202111","gmt_created":"2019-07-15 14:48:31","changed":"1563202111","gmt_changed":"2019-07-15 14:48:31","alt":"","file":{"fid":"237382","name":"Cody Clements coral.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Cody%20Clements%20coral.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Cody%20Clements%20coral.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":123434,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Cody%20Clements%20coral.jpg?itok=wxszsePv"}},"623317":{"id":"623317","type":"image","title":"Experimental coral gardens (Credit Cody Clements CC BY-ND)","body":null,"created":"1563202186","gmt_created":"2019-07-15 14:49:46","changed":"1563202186","gmt_changed":"2019-07-15 14:49:46","alt":"","file":{"fid":"237383","name":"Cody Clements coral2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Cody%20Clements%20coral2.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Cody%20Clements%20coral2.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":137859,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Cody%20Clements%20coral2.jpg?itok=VMxayj92"}},"623318":{"id":"623318","type":"image","title":"Monoculture vs polyculture coral gardens (Credit Cody Clements and Mark Hay CC BY-ND)","body":null,"created":"1563202285","gmt_created":"2019-07-15 14:51:25","changed":"1563203095","gmt_changed":"2019-07-15 15:04:55","alt":"","file":{"fid":"237384","name":"Cody Clements coral3.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Cody%20Clements%20coral3.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Cody%20Clements%20coral3.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":84245,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Cody%20Clements%20coral3.jpg?itok=9XuMxT6t"}}},"media_ids":["623319","623316","623317","623318"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1275","name":"School of Biological Sciences"}],"categories":[{"id":"154","name":"Environment"}],"keywords":[{"id":"100731","name":"corals"},{"id":"831","name":"climate change"},{"id":"736","name":"diversity"},{"id":"176940","name":"Cody Clements"},{"id":"166882","name":"School of Biological Sciences"},{"id":"13884","name":"Mark Hay"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA. Maureen Rouhi, Ph.D.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nDirector of Communications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCollege of Sciences\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["maureen.rouhi@cos.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}