Heat-resistant corals provide clues to climate change survival, Stanford researchers say

ORIGINAL: Stanford

BY ROB JORDAN Stanford Report

January 9, 2013

Some corals are tougher than others when it comes to standing up to the warming ocean temperatures brought on by climate change. Stanford researchers have found a genomic basis for this coral resilience, helping make it possible to save the toughest breeds as temperatures continue to rise.

Photo: Dan Griffin

Shallow-reef corals off Ofu Island in American Samoa. 'If we can find populations most likely to resist climate change and map them, then we can protect them,' Stanford researcher Stephen Palumbi said.

In a future shaped by climate change, only the strong – or heat-resistant – will survive. A study published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences opens a window into a genetic process that allows some corals to withstand unusually high temperatures and may hold a key to species survival for organisms around the world.

"If we can find populations most likely to resist climate change and map them, then we can protect them," said study co-author Stephen Palumbi, a senior fellow at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment and director of theHopkins Marine Station. "It's of paramount importance because climate change is coming."

Coral reefs are crucial sources of fisheries, aquaculture and storm protection for about a billion people worldwide. These highly productive ecosystems are constructed by reef-building corals, but overfishing and pollution plus rising temperatures and acidity have destroyed half of the world's reef-building corals during the past 20 years. The onslaught of climate change makes it imperative to understand how corals respond to extreme temperatures and other environmental stresses.

Although researchers have observed that certain corals withstand stresses better than others, the molecular mechanisms behind this enhanced resilience remain unclear. For their study, Palumbi, Stanford postdoctoral scholar Daniel Barshis and other researchers looked at shallow-reef corals off Ofu Island in American Samoa to determine how they survive waters that often get hotter than 90 degrees Fahrenheit during summer-time low tides.

Utilizing cutting-edge DNA sequencing technology, the scientists examined the corals' gene expression when subjected to water temperatures up to 95 degrees. "These technologies are usually applied to human genome screens and medical diagnoses, but we're now able to apply them to the most pressing questions in coral biology, like which genes might help corals survive extreme heat," Barshis said.

Heat-resistant and heat-sensitive corals had a similar reaction to experimental heat: hundreds of genes "changed expression," turning on to reduce and repair damage. However, the heat-resistant corals showed an unexpected pattern: 60 heat stress genes were already turned on even before the experiment began. These genes are "frontloaded" in heat resistant corals – already turned on and ready to work even before the heat stress begins.

"It's like already having your driver's license and boarding pass out when you get close to the TSA screener at the airport, rather than starting to fumble through your wallet once you get to the front of the line," Palumbi said.

The findings show that DNA sequencing can offer broad insights into the differences that may allow some organisms to persist longer amid future changes to global climate. "We're going to put a lot of effort into protecting coral reefs, but what happens if we wake up in 30 years and all our efforts are in vain because those corals have succumbed to climate change?" Palumbi said.

As with strong corals, finding species most likely to endure climate change – "resilience mapping" – is the first step toward protecting them, Palumbi said. "The solutions that we're looking for must, at least partially, be out there in the world."

Rob Jordan is the communications writer for the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment.

Media Contact

Stephen Palumbi, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment: cell, (831) 601-7002; office, (831) 655-6210; spalumbi@stanford.edu

Dan Barshis, National Marine Fisheries Service: office, (831) 420-3957; daniel.barshis@noaa.gov

Rob Jordan, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment: (650) 721-1881; rjordan@stanford.edu

Dive into the Great Barrier Reef with the first underwater panoramas in Google Maps

ORIGINAL: Google Blog
September 25, 2012

Today we’re adding the very first underwater panoramic images to Google Maps, the next step in our quest to provide people with the most comprehensive, accurate and usable map of the world. With these vibrant and stunning photos you don’t have to be a scuba diver—or even know how to swim—to explore and experience six of the ocean’s most incredible living coral reefs. Now, anyone can become the next virtual Jacques Cousteau and dive with sea turtles, fish and manta rays in Australia, the Philippines and Hawaii. 

Get up close and personal with sea turtles at Heron Island, Great Barrier Reef

Starting today, you can use Google Maps to find a sea turtle swimming among a school of fish, follow a manta ray and experience the reef at sunset—just as I did on my first dive in the Great Barrier Reef last year. You can also find out much more about this reef via the World Wonders Project, a website that brings modern and ancient world heritage sites online. 

At Apo Island, a volcanic island and marine reserve in the Philippines, you can see anancient boulder coral, which may be several hundred years old. And in the middle of the Pacific, in Hawaii, you can join snorkelers in Oahu’s Hanauma Bay and drift over the vast coral reef at Maui's Molokini crater. 

We’re partnering with The Catlin Seaview Survey, a major scientific study of the world’s reefs, to make these amazing images available to millions of people through the Street View feature of Google Maps. The Catlin Seaview Survey used a specially designed underwater camera, the SVII, to capture these photos. 

The Catlin Seaview Survey team on location on the Great Barrier Reef, encountering a manta ray

Whether you’re a marine biologist, an avid scuba diver or a landlocked landlubber, we encourage you to dive in and explore the ocean with Google Maps. Check out ourcomplete underwater collection, featuring a Google+ underwater Hangout from the Great Barrier Reef. And you can always explore more imagery from around the world by visiting maps.google.com/streetview. 

Explore more underwater images

Posted by Brian McClendon, VP of Google Maps and Earth

Actuemos ya para salvar la barrera coralina de... un puerto carbonífero

ORIGINAL: Greenpeace

Save The Reef… from coal

•    Become a reef defender. Sign Greenpeace’s petition >

Gran Barrera de Coral
Nombre descrito en la Lista del Patrimonio de la Humanidad.
Imagen por satélite de una parte de la Gran Barrera de Coral. Foto por cortesía de la NASA.
Coordenadas	18°17'10?S 147°42'00?E
País	Australia
Tipo	Natural
Criterios	vii, viii, ix, x
N.° identificación	154
Región	Asia y Oceanía
Año de inscripción	1981 (V sesión )

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In our campaign to stop dangerous climate change, Greenpeace is taking on one of the most urgent issues facing our nation: the enormous expansion of coal mining and coal exports. Not only does it spell disaster for our climate but it threatens one of Australia’s most precious treasures, the Great Barrier Reef.

While the reef has been under pressure for years, it is now facing a devastating new threat. Today we are releasing a new report that documents the vast scale and impact of the coal industry’s plans in and near the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.

The pending coal boom spells disaster for our unique and ecologically sensitive reef and for our climate.

The coal boom

The Galilee Basin in the heart of Queensland is the proposed site for a series of mega mines that could see Australia’s coal exports more than double within a decade. An enormous coal mine means enormous amounts of carbon pollution and supporting infrastructure. We are on the brink of turning the whole Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area into a massive industrial estate. The expansion plans include:

• Port infrastructure
  Major new infrastructure is proposed along almost the entire length of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area – from Gladstone to Cape York. These projects will devastate significant areas of Queensland’s coastline both on and offshore. One port, Abbott Point, would become the largest coal export port in the world, nearly three times larger than any other on the planet.

• Ship traffic
  Up to 10,000 coal ships would travel through the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area by the end of the decade. This compares to less than 2000 in 2011. An average of two accidents has occurred every year since 1985. More ships mean more pollution, more spills, more groundings and more collisions.

• Dredging
  For coal ships to access the huge ports, millions of tonnes of sea floor will need to be dredged from the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area. The proposed and approved dredging is the equivalent of taking enough material to fill the Melbourne Cricket Ground 67 times. Dredging will destroy vital marine habitat, including for endangered Loggerhead and Olive Ridley turtles.

The impact

• On our economy
  The mining boom is already driving up the Australian dollar and having negative impacts on manufacturing, tourism, agriculture and other industries. The Environmental Impact Statement for Clive Palmer’s ‘China First’ mine openly states that the mine would destroy over 2000 manufacturing jobs in Queensland alone.

• On our environment
  Turning a sensitive and ecologically important area into an industrial zone has obvious enormous environmental consequences. The reef took millions of years to form, but it risks being trashed in the blink of an eye. Coal is also a major cause of climate change, which is killing the reef.

The opportunity

The guardians of World Heritage – UNESCO – arrive in Australia next week to investigate impacts on the reef. In response, the Queensland and Australian Governments will conduct an 18-month ‘strategic assessment’ of the reef. But it looks like the world’s largest coal port and huge developments in the World Heritage area may be approved before the assessment is even finished.

We need to act now before it’s too late.

The Great Barrier Reef is not an industrial playground for mining barons. It is Australia’s legacy and must be safeguarded for future generations.

TAKE ACTION!

•    Become a reef defender. Sign Greenpeace’s petition >
•    Read the full report >

Click on the image to open inforgraphic in pdf format.