Context:
Scientists working on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef have successfully trialled a new method for freezing and storing coral larvae they say could eventually help rewild reefs threatened by climate change.
Relevance:
Environment and Ecology (Conservation of Environment and Ecology, Environmental Pollution and Degradation)
Dimensions of the Article:
- Great Barrier Reef
- About Coral Reefs
- What does the new report say?
Great Barrier Reef
- The Great Barrier Reef, located in the Coral Sea (North-East Coast), off the coast of Queensland, Australia, is the world’s most extensive and spectacular coral reef ecosystem composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands.
- This reef structure is composed of and built by billions of tiny organisms, known as coral polyps which are tiny, soft-bodied organisms and their base which is a hard, protective limestone skeleton called a calicle, forms the structure of coral reefs.
- It was selected as a World Heritage Site in 1981.
About Coral Reefs
- Indonesia has the largest coral reef area in the world and the Great Barrier Reef of the Queensland coast of Australia is the largest aggregation of coral reefs.
- India, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Chagos have the maximum coral reefs in South Asia.
- Coral Reefs protect humanity from natural calamities acting as a barrier, provide revenue and employment through tourism and recreation and also provide habitats for fishes, starfish and sea anemones.
- Coral blocks are used for buildings and road construction, the lime supplied by corals is used in cement industries and coral reefs may also be used in jewellery.
- India has four coral reef areas:
- Gulf of Mannar,
- Andaman and Nicobar Islands,
- Lakshadweep islands
- Gulf of Kutch.
Risks and threats to coral reefs
- Due to anthropogenic activities such as coastal development, destructive fishing methods and pollution from domestic and industrial sewage.
- Due to increased sedimentation, over-exploitation and recurring cyclones.
- Coral diseases such as black band and white band due to infectious microorganisms introduced by the human population that live on the coastal regions.
Mesh technology
- Cryogenically, frozen coral can be stored and later reintroduced to the wild but the current process requires sophisticated equipment including lasers.
- Scientists say a new lightweight “cryomesh” can be manufactured cheaply and better preserves coral.
- In a December lab trial, the world’s first with Great Barrier Reef coral, scientists used the cryomesh to freeze coral larvae at the Australian Institute of Marine Sciences (AIMS).
- The coral had been collected from the reef for the trial, which coincided with the brief annual spawning window.
- The cryomesh was previously trialled on smaller and larger varieties of the Hawaiian corals. A trial on the larger variety failed.
- Trials are continuing with larger varieties of Great Barrier Reef coral.
- The mesh technology, which will help store coral larvae at -196°C (-320.8°F), was devised by a team from the University of Minnesota’s College of Science and Engineering.
-Source: The Hindu
