Award: OCE-1516763

August of 2014 was the warmest on record for the Florida Keys reef tract and by early September numerous corals species were severely stressed and looked bleached. This ongoing large-scale bleaching event provided an unprecedented opportunity to understand if prior stress exposure hardened individual coral colonies to future hot water events -- a process called acclimatization. In the summer of 2015 corals bleached again, yet no sign of such increased stress tolerance was observed. Yet, within colonies and among genetically identical colonies (clonemates) bleaching was patchy indicating that some portions of the colonies were more resistant to bleaching than others despite being genetically identical. The results of this study showed that this variable bleaching response cannot be attributed to genetic diversity in either the coral’s photosynthetic symbionts (Symbiodinium) or the colonies’ prokaryotic microbiome.  Instead, this study generated evidence that epigenetic mechanisms play a role in the differential stress response of genetically identical coral colonies.  This intriguing possibility opens new avenues for research into how reefs might survive climate change. This is important because tropical coral reefs harbor more species then tropical rainforests and generate billions of dollars each year for local and national economies. The focal species of this project was the endangered elkhorn coral, Acropora palmata and results of the work will be used directly by managers when choosing coral colonies for conservation. The project educated and trained the public and public institutions on numerous levels. The scientists have partnered with the Coral Restoration Foundation, a non-for profit organization that delivers scientific knowledge and hands on experience in coral restoration to over 300 high school students per year. Postdoctoral scholars, graduate and undergraduate students were an integral part of this project and received training in field and laboratory work and lecture courses. Results were published in peer-reviewed journals and data was submitted to public data repositories.

Last Modified: 05/08/2017
Modified by: Iliana Baums