Environmental Protection

How Corals Thrive in High Temperatures


Global warming has been expected to decline the number of corals that can survive the hot temperatures, but some species can withstand the heat.Researchers from the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (NOCS) and New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) investigated the reasons as to why this might be possible. The teams worked closely together to select and characterize model corals from the Arabian/Persian Gulf, which will facilitate future molecular-scale investigations into why they can tolerate heat stress.


Even a temperature rise of just one degree Celsius can harm symbiotic algae, which increases mortality in corals. The associated loss of symbiotic algae is known as “coral bleaching” because the white skeletons of the corals become visible through the tissue depleted from the algal pigments. But the scientists were surprised to discover that the algae in Gulf corals belong to a group not known for its thermal tolerance.


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