Journal article
Predictive models for the selection of thermally tolerant corals based on offspring survival
KM Quigley, MJH van Oppen
Nature Communications | NATURE PORTFOLIO | Published : 2022
Abstract
Finding coral reefs resilient to climate warming is challenging given the large spatial scale of reef ecosystems. Methods are needed to predict the location of corals with heritable tolerance to high temperatures. Here, we combine Great Barrier Reef-scale remote sensing with breeding experiments that estimate larval and juvenile coral survival under exposure to high temperatures. Using reproductive corals collected from the northern and central Great Barrier Reef, we develop forecasting models to locate reefs harbouring corals capable of producing offspring with increased heat tolerance of an additional 3.4° heating weeks (~3 °C). Our findings predict hundreds of reefs (~7.5%) may be home to..
View full abstractGrants
Awarded by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Funding Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the Traditional Owners from whose Sea-Country these colonies were collected, in particular the Lama Lama Traditional Owners from Far North Queensland. We would like to thank GBRLegacy, Ramaciotti Centre for Genomics at the University of New South Wales and Korak Saha at NOAA and Marc Hammerton at the Australian Institute of Marine Science with their assistance in re-formatting the CoRTAD global satellite data and eReefs data. Laboratory animals were collected and cared for under institutional guidelines and permit number G18/41667.1. Funding was provided by the Australian Institute of Marine Science to KMQ. The development of SS01 was supported by funding from Paul G. Allen Family Foundation to MJHvO. We acknowledge the Australian Research Council Laureate Fellowship FL180100036 to MJHvO.