Global coral database offers clues on their chances of survival

Coral reefs are under a growing threat from climyate change and human activity Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) has launched a web application to monitor coral systems worldwide. The RECIFS directory aims to catalogue environmental data from coral reefs around the world to better understand how they adapt - or not - to climate change and human activities.

“By creating a single repository, we can identify the factors that triggered irreversible processes in the past, like the coral bleaching caused by heat waves,” says Oliver Selmoni, the study’s lead author, who holds a PhD in environmental engineering from EPFL. “We can also investigate why some coral reefs are more resistant to these effects and set up protected marine areas where needed.”

The datasets provided through RECIFS originate from the public domain and contain nearly four decades of environmental measurements, including both physical properties (such as water temperature, heat waves and sea-current velocity) and chemical ones. It also holds data on human activity in the proximity of coral reefs, like boat traffic (which is a source of pollution), nearby cities and their population density (which can be a sign of overfishing), and agricultural land use (which can indicate fertiliser runoff into the sea). 

The goal is to see everything that in the past has triggered irreversible processes, such as the death of corals. Conversely, it could also help understand why, in some instances, ecosystems have managed to adapt and survive. 

A fish surviving thermal stress

Scientists cite the example of a fish, the striped snapper (Lutjanus synagris). The analysis of existing data allowed them to identify an Australian region where this fish has developed exceptional adaptation capacities, both to thermal stress and to the presence of phosphate.

This giant directory, which will be updated every year, should help scientist and local authorities to implement effective conservation strategies for coral ecosystems.

RECIFS was recently unveiled in an article appearing in Global Ecology and Biogeography.