A framework for selectively breeding corals for assisted evolution

Humanes, Adriana; Bythell, John C.; Beauchamp, Elizabeth; Carl, M.; Craggs, Jamie; Edwards, Alasdair J.; Golbuu, Yimnang; Lachs, Liam; Randle, Janna L.; Martinez, Helios M.; Palmowski, Paweł; Paysinger, Faith; Steeg, Eveline van der; Sweet, Michael; Treumann, Achim; Guest, James R.

doi:10.1101/2021.02.23.432469

Cited by 2 publications

(6 citation statements)

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“…Given the differences in practicality, scalability, and the time required for the interventions to take effect, it might be most efficient to combine technologies at different levels. Although selectively bred corals likely have the highest potential for resilience gains and scalability in the long run, their production is costly and scaling up is mostly achieved through propagation in the wild 139,221,222 . Implementation will therefore require natural populations to persist to provide enough coral cover for efficient natural reproduction and the preservation of ecosystem services.…”

Section: Extending the Coral Holobiont Natural Adaptive Capacitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…R e v i e w s 0123456789();: not simultaneously mitigated. Success is further confounded where practices often operate without knowledge of the inherent genetic and functional diversity, and hence, do not increase the resilience of corals produced and even run the risk of adaptive bottlenecking in the long term 42,221 . Consequently, effective repopulation rests on capturing sufficient genetic and functional diversity to resist stochastic environmental change 224,228,229 differentially affected.…”

Section: Nature Reviews | Earth and Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As such, sexual propagation techniques to maximize genetic recombination of parents -and hence adaptive potential -through either controlled (such as selective breeding amongst genotypes) or uncontrolled (such as mass larval-based seeding of outplant structures) approaches 88,140,221,230 represent an essential and necessary pipeline, not only for coral reef restoration, but for rehabilitation.…”

Section: ();mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…4). Efforts are rapidly gearing towards overcoming technical and methodological constraints for selective breeding approaches based on large-scale sexual propagation 221 . Alongside these efforts to enhance coral resilience, it is still important to mitigate the impact of environmental parameters, such as water quality, that are broadly linked to reef resilience and directly implicated in coral bleaching and disease susceptibility [24][25][26]165 .…”

Section: ();mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Standardization and monitoring success. Despite the prospect of combining emergent technologies with tried and tested approaches, standardized protocols must be developed and made available for broad application, which should become more available in the coming years, or are already in place 221 (Figs 2 and 4). Restoration and/or rehabilitation will likely benefit from operational frameworks that can adopt 'best of both worlds' practices: more specialized, manipulative (and likely costly) solutions to be applied when reefs are severely endangered or degraded, in balance with broader scale measures that aim to maintain reef health and do not require sophisticated instrumentation or knowledge to be implemented (such as monitoring water quality) (Fig.…”

Section: ();mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Extending the natural adaptive capacity of coral holobionts

Voolstra

Suggett

Peixoto

et al. 2021

Nat Rev Earth Environ

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131

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Tropical coral reefs cover only 0.1% of the seafloor yet provide habitat for >30% of all marine multicellular species 1 . Ecosystem services delivered through healthy tropical reefs are economically valued at around US $9,900,000 million per year 2 and sustain almost a billion people [3][4][5] . Despite their importance, catastrophic global loss of coral reefs owing to anthropogenic activity is fast becoming a reality 6 . For example, the 2015-2018 global coral bleaching event affected 74% of reefs worldwide, with >30% of coral cover lost on the Great Barrier Reef alone 7 . Additionally, coral cover in the Florida Reef Tract has declined by upwards of 90% over the last 50 years [8][9][10][11] .A global contributing factor to reef degradation is coral bleaching 12,13 . Without their microalgal symbionts (Fig. 1), corals lose their primary source of nutrition, leading to starvation, reduced fecundity, and reduced growth, often resulting in widespread coral mortality 14,15 . Trajectories for coral reefs under present CO 2 emission scenarios are dire, with 60% of all remaining coral reefs critically threatened, and 98% exposed to environmental conditions above the current thresholds considered necessary to maintain ecosystem function as soon as 2030 (reF. 16 ). The impact of ocean warming is exacerbated by the effects of ocean acidification 17 , deoxygenation 18 , and salinity changes 19 . Combined with local factors such as overfishing, coastal development, disturbance of the nutrient environment (water quality), and disease or predator outbreaks, the interrelated cumulative impacts all contribute to reduction in coral cover and declining reef ecosystem health [20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27] .Given the rate and extent at which climate change unfolds 28 , a widespread and shared concern is that the rate of environmental change could outpace the ability of coral holobionts to adapt to the changing environment 29 , concomitant with the increasing loss of coral reef cover 30 . Global mitigation of CO 2 emissions is unquestionably needed to stem the rate of declining reef health [30][31][32] . However, biological, ecological and socio-economic adaptations are critical partners to preserve reefs and delay the loss of coral populations until carbon mitigation is effectively implemented 30 . Reef protection through Marine Protected Areas and management practices reduces how local stressors compound global climate change impacts 27,31 . Nevertheless, the current state of reefs and their predicted further decline have sparked initiatives to prioritize reefs or corals that are less vulnerable to climate change and best positioned for regenerating other degraded reefs in the future [33][34][35] . Coral bleachingDiscolouration of coral tissue due to the loss of microalgal symbionts triggered by climate change-induced ocean warming and thermal stress anomalies.

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Section: Extending the Coral Holobiont Natural Adaptive Capacitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Nature Reviews | Earth and Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: ();mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: ();mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: ();mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Extending the natural adaptive capacity of coral holobionts

Voolstra

Suggett

Peixoto

et al. 2021

Nat Rev Earth Environ

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131

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Population origin determines the adaptive potential for the advancement of flowering onset in Lupinus angustifolius L. (Fabaceae)

Sacristán‐Bajo

García‐Fernández

Lara‐Romero

et al. 2022

Evolutionary Applications

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In the present framework of global warming, it is unclear whether evolutionary adaptation can happen quick enough to preserve the persistence of many species. Specifically, we lack knowledge about the adaptive potential of the different populations in relation to the various constraints that may hamper particular adaptations. There is evidence indicating that early flowering often provides an adaptive advantage to plants in temperate zones in response to global warming. Thus, the objective of this study was to assess the adaptive potential for advancing flowering onset in Lupinus angustifolius L. (Fabaceae). Seeds from four populations from two contrasting latitudes in Spain were collected and sown in a common garden environment. Selecting the 25% of the individuals that flowered earlier in the first generation, over three generations, three different early flowering selection lines were established, involving both self‐crosses and outcrosses. All artificial selection lines advanced their flowering significantly with respect to the control line in the northernmost populations, but not in the southern ones. Selection lines obtained from outcrossing had a greater advancement in flowering than those from self‐crossing. No differences were found in the number or weight of the seeds produced between control and artificial selection lines, probably because plants in the common garden were drip irrigated. These results suggest that northern populations may have a greater adaptive potential and that southern populations may be more vulnerable in the context of climate warming. However, earlier flowering was also associated with changes in other traits (height, biomass, shoot growth, specific leaflet area, and leaflet dry matter content), and the effects of these changes varied greatly depending on the latitude of the population and selection line. Assessments of the ability of populations to cope with climate change through this and other approaches are essential to manage species and populations in a more efficient way.

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A framework for selectively breeding corals for assisted evolution

Cited by 2 publications

References 76 publications

Extending the natural adaptive capacity of coral holobionts

Extending the natural adaptive capacity of coral holobionts

Population origin determines the adaptive potential for the advancement of flowering onset in Lupinus angustifolius L. (Fabaceae)

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