Heat-resistant corals in Saudi Arabia could save the world's dying reefs

[Saif al-Arab]

Heat-resistant corals in the Middle East could save the world's dying reefs​

By Sarah Lazarus, CNN

June 27, 2018

(CNN)Coral reefs are in crisis. Around the world, they are being wiped out by rising sea temperatures -- a consequence of climate change.

But in one region, some corals are withstanding the heat.
Off the coast of the Arabian Peninsula, there are pockets of resistance. Consequently, this area has become a hotbed for research as marine biologists try to figure out what gives these corals their ability to survive warming seas and whether genetic technology could -- and should -- be used to save dying coral reefs, before we lose them forever.

Reef life

Corals are not only beautiful -- they are also a vital part of the marine ecosystem.
"Coral reefs are home to a quarter of all marine species and support fisheries by providing foraging habitats for adult fish and nursery habitats for juveniles," says John Burt, a marine biologist at NYU Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates. "So they're really important biologically and economically."
Although they look like plants, corals actually consist of tiny, soft-bodied creatures called polyps that cluster together in huge numbers to form colonies. In most coral species, the polyps secrete limestone which forms a hard skeleton. A reef is a collection of corals, which come in a dazzling array of shapes and sizes, and a glorious rainbow of colors.
However, it's not the coral itself that creates the brilliant hues, but colorful microscopic algae that live within the coral. "It's a win-win relationship," says Burt. The coral provides the algae with essential nutrients and a safe place to live, while the algae provides the coral with about 90% of its food.
But when sea temperatures reach a tipping point that relationship breaks down. "The coral is either digesting the algae or expelling it -- we're not quite sure of the process," says Burt. As the density of algae drops, the coral "bleaches" -- becoming progressively paler until it turns bone white.

Bleached coral on Australia's Great Barrier Reef.

Bleaching does not spell instant death. "Like humans, corals deposit fats, so they can live for a short period of time off their fat reserves," says Burt. And if the hot spell subsides, he says, the coral can "pull algae back into their tissue" and revive. But if that doesn't happen within one to two weeks, the corals starve to death.
Between 2014 and 2017, corals around the world suffered the longest and most widespread bleaching event on record. In Australia, during 2016, 29% of the 3,863 reefs that comprise the world's largest coral reef system -- the Great Barrier Reef -- were severely damaged.
During this period, the corals in the Gulf of Aqaba -- a narrow finger of water at the northernmost tip of the Red Sea, bordered by Israel, Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia -- appeared healthy. Jessica Bellworthy, from Israel's Bar Ilan University, says that although the Gulf is warming at a faster rate than the global average, mass bleaching has never been observed there.

Bellworthy is studying the Gulf of Aqaba's corals to find out just how resilient they are. "We tested the corals in the lab by raising the temperature by five degrees above the summer maximum of 27 degrees Celsius, and sustaining that for a number of weeks," she says.
In most places, corals start bleaching at one or two degrees Celsius above the maximum summer temperature, but the corals in Bellworthy's lab "still show resilience" even when subjected to these extreme increases.
An average global increase of five degrees Celsius in ocean temperature is "what we would expect to see towards the middle of the next century if we did nothing to reduce global gas emissions," she says.
Bellworthy subjected her corals to further tests by increasing the water's acidity. Climate change drives acidification, which does not cause bleaching but hampers the corals' ability to recover.
"The sea has a current pH level of 8.1," says Bellworthy, "and we anticipate that will decline to pH 7.8 by the end of the century. We've been lowering the pH of water in the tanks to that same level."

Jessica Bellworthy working with corals in her laboratory's Red Sea Simulator system.

Again, the Gulf of Aqaba's corals coped remarkably well. What makes them so hardy?
Bellworthy's supervisor, Professor Maoz Fine, has suggested that their remarkable resistance stems from the last Ice Age. "Sea levels were extremely low because much of the water was trapped in ice and the southern entrance to the Red Sea was blocked by a land barrier," explains Bellworthy. "The Red Sea was isolated, and became so hot and salty that most life died out," she says, adding that a gap in the fossil record supports this theory.

About 8,000 years ago, the ice melted, sea levels rose and water flooded back into the Red Sea, bringing organisms with it. But the entrance acted as a thermal bottleneck and only those species that could cope with super-heated water survived.

"With time these organisms stepping stoned their way north, up to the Gulf of Aqaba," says Bellworthy.

The Gulf of Aqaba is now relatively cool but, according to Fine's theory, the corals have retained their ancient ability to survive bath-warm temperatures. "The current temperatures are even a little suboptimal," says Bellworthy. "In some cases, the corals perform better at 1 to 2 degrees Celsius above the current summer maximum."

Jeremy Delafosse from the Energy Observer Project examing coral in the Gulf of Aqaba.

Bellworthy says that the Gulf of Aqaba corals have an unusually good chance of surviving global warming and protecting them is vital. In an effort to protect them from local pollution, which threatens them, she and her colleagues are seeking to achieve international recognition -- ideally UNESCO World Heritage Site status -- for the reefs.

Back from the brink

Further south, researchers at Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) are using genetic analyses to decipher why Red Sea corals are much less prone -- although not immune -- to bleaching, than the exact same species living on the Great Barrier Reef.
They are also comparing individual corals to determine why some show more heat tolerance than others. Once key lifesaving genes have been identified, the next step will be to breed the corals that carry them. "The question is: If we can identify the 'supermom' and 'superdad' corals, can we create 'superbabies' that will be more resilient to stressful conditions?" says Michael Berumen, who leads KAUST's Red Sea Research Center.

If we can identify the 'supermom' and 'superdad' corals, can we create 'superbabies'...?

Michael Berumen​

The KAUST scientists are also examining the corals' microbiomes -- the bacteria, viruses and fungi that live in association with them. "Each individual coral may have up to a thousand types of bacteria living on or inside it. We don't yet know how important a role they play in heat resilience, but we assume it's significant," says Berumen.
In Abu Dhabi, Burt is conducting research in the southern Persian Gulf, the hottest coral reef habitat on the planet, where the sea temperature frequently hits a whopping 36 degrees.

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

"It's a natural laboratory for studying how coral reefs might respond to climate change," says Burt. "These corals exist in hotter conditions than are projected for at least another century in places like the Great Barrier Reef and the Caribbean."
Working with colleagues from the UK's University of Southampton, Burt's team examined the corals' algae component, and in 2015 discovered a new species of algae that dominates virtually all corals across the southern Persian Gulf.
The team named the algae Symbiodinium thermophilum -- thermophilum means "heat-loving."
"Over 99% of the algae in Persian Gulf corals are from this one species," says Burt, adding that he believes the algae enable the corals to survive the extreme environment.
It's possible, he says, that Symbiodinium thermophilum will spread to corals elsewhere, as ocean temperatures heat up. But natural processes are slow and climate change is occurring at an alarming rate.

Ethical dilemmas

Most marine biologists say that experimental measures being tested in the lab should not be deployed in the wild unless absolutely necessary and, even then, with extreme caution.
"Some scholars have talked about human-assisted migration -- moving heat-resistant corals from the southern Persian Gulf to other parts of the world," says Burt, "but we don't know the genetic implications, and there's a risk of introducing disease and parasites."

Soft coral.

And as with any genetic engineering technology, the application of breeding research could lead to unexpected pitfalls.
"Our remit as scientists is to say which options are on the table," says Berumen. "The real dilemma comes later in the form of the ethical question: Should we use these technologies or not?" He adds that good quality data that quantifies the pros and cons is key to decision making. Ultimately, though, "it is up to reef management authorities to decide what to do within their jurisdictions."
There is consensus among coral experts that we should do more to preserve the reefs we already have, rather than relying on a scientific fix.
At the moment, Berumen says he's not ruling anything out. "The situation is critical in some parts of the world and large areas of coral reef have been killed by climate change stress, so extreme options might need to be on the table."

Photos: Red Sea coral reefs
Coral head – Coral reefs are hotspots for biodiversity and a vital part of the marine ecosystem, home to a quarter of all marine species.
Hide Caption
1 of 12

Photos: Red Sea coral reefs
Soft coral – Most corals secrete limestone which forms a hard skeleton, but "soft" corals like this one do not. Although they don't help to build a permanent coral reef, soft corals provide food and shelter for lots of organisms.
Hide Caption
2 of 12

Photos: Red Sea coral reefs
Basket star – By day, basket stars coil their long arms and hide in small nooks and crannies on the reef. At night they feed, unfurling their arms and capturing small particles with their "branchlets."
Hide Caption
3 of 12

Photos: Red Sea coral reefs
Crown-of-thorns sea star – This large sea star, named for its sharp, spiky skin, feeds on living coral tissue and can cause severe damage to coral reefs. The triton shell -- a very large sea snail -- is one of its few natural predators. But triton shell populations have been badly depleted in many parts of the world because they are collected for use as food and ornaments.
Hide Caption
4 of 12

Photos: Red Sea coral reefs
Cuttlefish – Despite its name, the cuttlefish is not a fish -- it's a cephalopod, and closely related to octopuses and squids. Considered one of the most intelligent non-vertebrate animals, cuttlefish hunt prey on the reef, mostly by night. Masters of camouflage, they can change color patterns almost instantly. They use color changes to catch prey, avoid being eaten by predators, and communicate -- both with other cuttlefish and other species.
Hide Caption
5 of 12

Photos: Red Sea coral reefs
Sponge – Despite their outward appearance, sponges are animals. They draw water in through small pores (visible in this close-up photo) to capture floating food particles. Sponges tend to live in mutually beneficial relationships with other species -- crabs, shrimps, barnacles and brittle stars spend their entire lives on or inside the host sponge. Many sponges also harbor a vast diversity of microbial life -- in some, the biomass of microbes can outweigh the biomass of the sponge itself.
Hide Caption
6 of 12

Photos: Red Sea coral reefs
Sponge on a shell – The exterior of this shell has been covered with a red encrusting sponge, while the interior has been filled with small anemones or "mushroom" corals. Vacant space is hard to come by on a coral reef and competition is intense -- every spare surface is colonized quickly.
Hide Caption
7 of 12

Photos: Red Sea coral reefs
Feather duster worm – These striking worms live in areas where they can capture plankton or other food particles in the water.
Hide Caption
8 of 12

Photos: Red Sea coral reefs
Sea slug – This fairytale-looking creature is a type of sea slug called a nudibranch. Like land slugs it is very similar to a snail, but doesn't have a shell.
Hide Caption
9 of 12

Photos: Red Sea coral reefs
Feather star – Closely related to sea stars, feather stars are typically seen on coral reefs after sunset, when they perch on high parts of the reef and extend their feathery arms up into the water to catch plankton and other small food particles.
Hide Caption
10 of 12

Photos: Red Sea coral reefs
Yellow frog fish – The yellow frog fish lives on the coral reef and relies on it for food and safety.
Hide Caption
11 of 12

Photos: Red Sea coral reefs
Grouper – A carnivorous fish, the grouper lives and hunts prey on the coral reef.
Hide Caption
12 of 12

https://edition.cnn.com/2018/06/26/middleeast/middle-east-corals/index.html

 

[The SC]

Very interesting article..
What about some laboratory tests to see if there are nefarious results or that the transfer is safe.. it is a serious matter that can have a solution in the ME corals..

 

[Pakistansdefender]

Just today I saw some old documentary on heat tolerant corals in Arabian seas.
And I immediately thought, this could be the the thing
Though our Reef is struggling from pollution then anything else.
It can easily be propagated but no one even Knew how to do that.... sad. No one even knew Pakistan has coral reefs. Karachi reefs are known but balochistan reefs are a hidden gem which I think should remain hidden for now, until we learn about them.
The balochistan seas is Arabian sea, they my have many of Arabian reefs.

 

[Saif al-Arab]

Very interesting article..
What about some laboratory tests to see if there are nefarious results or that the transfer is safe.. it is a serious matter that can have a solution in the ME corals..

Indeed bro.
A solution to this problem is being studied at KAUST.

Just today I saw some old documentary on heat tolerant corals in Arabian seas.
And I immediately thought, this could be the the thing
Though our Reef is struggling from pollution then anything else.
It can easily be propagated but no one even Knew how to do that.... sad. No one even knew Pakistan has coral reefs. Karachi reefs are known but balochistan reefs are a hidden gem which I think should remain hidden for now, until we learn about them.
The balochistan seas is Arabian sea, they my have many of Arabian reefs.

The article is mainly about the Gulf of Aqaba in the northern Red Sea.
I know little about coral reefs in the Arabian Sea outside of Oman and Yemen where they were doing rather well last time I read about the topic years ago.
However you could very well be right.

 

[Saif al-Arab]

Saudi Arabia’s Mysterious Coral Reefs Documented by International Team


A coral reef off the Saudi Arabian coast of the Gulf of Aqaba. Photo credit: King Abdulaziz University.

U.S. and Saudi Arabian scientists launched the most extensive baseline survey to-date of coral reef ecosystems along the Saudi coast of the Gulf of Aqaba during late September 2016 — investigating multiple reef species in detail to support conservation.

Mote Marine Laboratory in Florida and King Abdulaziz University (KAU) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, partnered in the initial, two-week expedition focused on coral abundance, diversity and stress, along with the abundance and diversity of butterflyfish, sea urchins, seagrasses and other species that may indicate the health of this critical environment. Preliminary results suggest that some life forms may be healthier or more diverse in southern Gulf of Aqaba waters further from denser human populations. More data and analyses are needed to verify the possible significance of trends, and the researchers aim for another expedition in summer 2017.

The Gulf of Aqaba is bordered by Egypt on the west, Israel and Jordan in the north, and Saudi Arabia on the east. Though relatively small – about 111 miles long (180 kilometers) and 12 miles wide (20 km) – the Gulf is one of the northernmost living coral reef ecosystems and estimated to host approximately 210 species of hard corals and 120 species of soft corals. Coastal development and industry are denser in and around the northern-Gulf cities of Eilat, Israel, and Aqaba, Jordan, while the Saudi Arabian coast is far less populous and its waters are far less studied.

“I have had the good fortune to lead comprehensive, multi-year studies with colleagues in the northern Gulf since the mid-1990s, and the Gulf of Aqaba is known for its beautiful coral reefs. However, the Saudi Arabian portion of this significant body of water is largely unexplored — in particular, comprehensive studies of reef biodiversity and coral health down the length of this coast are lacking,” said Dr. Michael P. Crosby, President & CEO of Mote and leading U.S. partner in the expedition.

“With this expedition, we’ve initiated the first in what we expect to be a continuous time series of multi-discipline data acquisition and analyses spanning from the northern border with Jordan south along the Saudi Arabian coast of the Gulf and into the Straits of Tiran. We’re excited to partner with the outstanding marine science faculty and students of King Abdulaziz University to gather these baseline data, which are necessary for understanding and addressing emerging challenges to their coral reefs.”

Reefs worldwide face growing challenges from climate change and ocean acidification due to excess carbon dioxide from human activity. Reefs in the Gulf of Aqaba may also be vulnerable to pollution from the developed northern Gulf coast, fishing, oil spills and tourism impacts.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has committed to protecting its marine resources through several agreements and consortia. One is PERSGA, the Regional Organization for the Conservation of the Environment of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden — an intergovernmental body dedicated to conserving marine and coastal environments of the Red Sea, Gulf of Aqaba, Gulf of Suez, Suez Canal and Gulf of Aden surrounding the Socotra Archipelago and nearby waters. Member states include: Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

“Scientific research has become an essential and effective contributor to understanding and addressing the various environmental impacts on the marine environment of the Gulf of Aqaba,” said Dr. Ali M. Al-Aidaroos, Professor at KAU and Saudi Arabian lead for the expedition. “International cooperation among scientists is aimed at understanding the risks and challenges of the Gulf environment in order to find innovative and sustainable management strategies. Mote Marine Laboratory is perfectly suited to help take on the challenges of the Gulf of Aqaba marine environment, which will benefit the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the world in general.”

September’s research expedition, funded by a grant from KAU, covered four Saudi Arabian sites from north to south: Haquel, Ras Dhabrah, Maknah and Ras Alsheikh Hamid. At each site, the researchers surveyed four transects at 5, 10 and 20 meters deep. Through observations, photos and samples, they worked to document coral abundance, diversity, health and microbial community; abundance, diversity and behavior of butterflyfish — indicator species for reef health; Diadema sea urchins and other reef-related organisms, including sediment-dwellers; and water chemistry, nutrients and plankton.

Some samples have yet to be processed. So far, preliminary results include:

Healthy corals: Of the 6,751 coral colonies examined in Saudi Arabian waters of the Gulf of Aqaba, 6,652 appeared healthy. Only 1.5 percent showed signs of stress. Corals tended to be healthier in deeper waters and at sites further south.

“We saw very few unhealthy corals,” said Dr. Erinn Muller, staff scientist at Mote. “When we did observe stress, it was usually due to predators or other natural causes of tissues loss, and some corals had signs of bleaching or harmful interactions with algae. We saw a few incidences of coral disease, but they were minimal.”

Among the four study sites, the researchers collected 59 coral samples and extracted DNA to identify their resident bacteria – a first for Saudi Arabian corals in the Gulf of Aqaba. Some bacteria will be cultured to test whether they fight coral disease or even produce compounds useful for human medicine.

Coral diversity and abundance: “The Saudi coral reefs along the 180-kilometer Gulf of Aqaba are generally in good condition, with high living coral cover, often exceeding 60 percent at the best sites,” said participating KAU scientist Dr. Abdulmohsin Abdullah M. Al-Sofyani. “Of the three depths surveyed, the best reefs were at 5 meters and 20 meters deep, where coral cover averaged 40 percent and 60 percent, respectively.”

Possible butterflyfish trend: Butterflyfish species that feed on corals respond to subtle changes in coral communities, making them excellent indicators of reef health. In the September survey, researchers counted the number of butterflyfish species, the number of individuals per species, and key territorially and feeding behavior traits. “Preliminary analyses of our first bit of data indicates an increasing richness of butterflyfish species going from north to south, which correlates with dense human population centers in the north to less populous areas in the south,” said Crosby of Mote. “This trend appears statistically significant, but we need to increase our sample size through future surveys and examine trends over time.”

Seagrasses: Seagrasses were more common toward the southern end of the Gulf. The invasive seagrass Halophila stipulacea was found at the two southern sampling sites, Maknah and Ras Alsheikh Hamid, and the native species Thalassodendron ciliatum was found at Ras Alsheikh Hamid, the most southern site, near the confluence of the Gulf and the Red Sea.

Invertebrate animals: “In general, we saw few crustaceans and mollusks — though we did observe Tridacna giant clams,” said Mote Senior Scientist Jim Culter. “The sediment was dominated by tiny polychaete worms.” Culter sampled sediment patches, which KAU staff will analyze for grain size, organic and carbonate content.

Culter noted that very few macroalgae (conspicuously large) were visible on the reefs studied. However, Diadema sea urchins, which feed on algae and help prevent excess algal growth on reefs, did increase in abundance from south to north. Close examination of the reef surface and sediment showed sparse, closely cropped algae and the presence of microscopic cyanobacteria also known as blue-green algae. These results may be explained more clearly when water quality data are processed.

“One possible explanation is that there are more nutrients in the upper Gulf near human population centers, which would support more algae for these urchins to eat,” said Dr. Dave Vaughan, Senior Scientist at Mote.

Water quality: The team collected water samples that will be analyzed for metals indicative of pollution, for pH, organic carbon, phosphorous and nitrogen compounds — all of which may affect the health of reef ecosystems. They also sampled for chlorophyll from marine algae and for tiny drifting organisms called plankton, which play important roles in the marine food web.

Mote scientists have focused on the Red Sea and Gulf of Aqaba since the Lab’s founder, Dr. Eugenie Clark, began studying the region’s fishes in the 1950s. Later in her career, Clark advocated preserving the Ras Mohammad area of the Red Sea, home to stunning coral reefs. Her voice provided crucial support and the area became Egypt’s first national park in 1983. Today, the Red Sea and Gulf of Aqaba remain major areas of focus for Mote.

Mote CEO Crosby has championed marine science and conservation in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aqaba since the mid-1990s. He worked with international partners to lead the Red Sea Marine Peace Park Cooperative Research, Monitoring and Management Program — an effort to protect coral reefs that support thousands of species in the Gulf of Aqaba. In 2002, Crosby also organized a Middle East Regional Marine Science Symposium and Workshop on Butterflyfish that was held in Jordan with participating researchers from 16 countries.

Said Crosby: “For us at Mote, this is an opportunity to carry forward what Dr. Eugenie Clark started, which has been a major focus for me over the past 20 years — building international marine science partnerships with outstanding researchers in the Middle East to study these crucial ocean resources so they can be conserved and sustainably used for future generations.”

By: Hayley Rutger, Mote Marine Laboratory

https://www.ecomagazine.com/news/sc...-coral-reefs-documented-by-international-team