Ongoing climate change due to greenhouse gas-induced rising sea surface temperatures and ocean acidification challenge the integrity of the most diverse marine ecosystem – the coral reefs. 2016 and 2017, marked the worse global coral bleaching event on record with an unprecedented loss of viable coral reefs worldwide.
Corals depend on a symbiotic relationship with microalgae (genus Symbiodinium) that they harbour in their tissue as their primary food source. Coral bleaching leads to a breakdown of this symbiosis and loss of algal cells, causing visual paling of the coral that eventually can lead to coral death if the symbiosis is not re-established. Environmental stress due to climate change increasingly causes coral bleaching events, the extent and frequency of which has increased markedly causing reef degradation on a global scale.
During this talk I will introduce you to the different ecosystem services that coral reefs are fulfilling and present to you the most recent research advances ongoing to counteract and alleviate the impact of global change.