Mote to advance study of coral reef health
The Dart Foundation has awarded a $180,000 grant to Mote Marine Laboratory for research designed to give coral reefs a fighting chance against the global threats of climate change and disease.?
- This is the second grant awarded to Mote’s coral reef researchers by the Dart Foundation – a private family foundation based in Mason, Mich.?
“We are happy to support this research, which we believe will protect and revitalize coral reefs all over the world,” said Ariane Dart, representative of the Dart Foundation.?
The two-year grant will support ongoing Mote research on how coral larvae settle and grow – a critical process for building and expanding reefs. The funding will also help support Mote’s collaboration with the University of South Florida in genetic research with the long-term goal of developing gene therapy to enhance coral reef health.
Mote scientists are international leaders in the study of coral health and disease, focusing on the mutually-beneficial relationship between corals and two types of microbes: beneficial bacteria that support reef health and symbiotic algae living in within coral tissues.?
Environmental stress is causing corals around the globe to lose their symbiotic algae, or “bleach,” and eventually die. According to a 2008 report by the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network, which includes U.S. government agencies, stressors such as warming climate, pollution and unsustainable fishing have caused 19 percent of the world’s reefs to be effectively lost, 15 percent to be seriously threatened with loss in the next 10-20 years and 20 percent threatened in the next 20-40 years.?
In recent years, Mote scientists and collaborators from multiple U.S. institutions have discovered many key factors that influence reef health, thanks in part to support from the Dart Foundation. Key results from 2010 include:
n Warming waters can cause beneficial bacteria on reefs to give way quickly to disease-causing microbes – an effect that can last months after the waters cool.
n Beneficial bacteria on coral reefs swap DNA at rapid rates, potentially spreading useful traits that brace reefs against environmental stress.
n Coral larvae settle better in the presence of certain DNA-swapping bacteria and the pods of genetic material they exchange.
“Generous support from the Dart Foundation has helped us unlock key aspects of coral reef health and potential ways to protect reefs in the face of climate change,” said Dr. Kim Ritchie, manager of the Marine Microbiology Program within Mote’s Center for Coral Reef Research. “Now, the Foundation’s new commitment will allow us to build upon these promising lines of research, which are at the root of better management and conservation of coral reefs.”??Ritchie and her colleagues will continue current research within the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary – home to the world’s third-largest barrier reef. Florida’s coral reefs and surrounding waters support hundreds of marine species and account for more than 20 million pounds of commercially harvested seafood each year. They also draw more than 3 million people annually, contributing more than $1.2 billion to the state’s economy.