Coral recovery experiments using heat-tolerant algae
Quick dive
- About 80% of the world’s coral reefs experienced extreme heat stress between 2023 and 2025, amplified by the 2023 El Niño.
- Two laboratory studies transferred the heat-tolerant algal strain SS8 into bleached corals after chemically removing their original algae.
- Inoculated coral fragments of two Great Barrier Reef species recovered and could donate algae to bleached corals with the same genetic background.
- Predictions in the article suggest annual mass coral bleaching could occur by 2080 under continued global warming, although field-scale transfer remains unproven.
- exam_relevance: tests coral–algae symbiosis, bleaching mechanism and restoration limits; UPSC has repeatedly asked coral reefs, El Niño, marine biodiversity and conservation interventions, making SS8 a concrete current-affairs application.
Full explanation
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