According to Scientists, Climate Change Resilience Anticipated for British Corals

According to recent research, two of the world's most common reef-building coral species are remarkably resilient to climate change-at least as long as global warming stays below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), the Paris Agreement's objective.

According to a recent study, an iconic coral species found in UK seas may increase its range owing to climate change.

Climate-resilient British coral

(Photo : GLENN NICHOLLS/AFP via Getty Images)

The pink sea fan is a soft coral that dwells in shallow seas from the western Mediterranean (southern range) to north-west Ireland and the south-west of England and Wales (northern range).

The species is categorized as "vulnerable" internationally, and it is recognized as a species of primary significance in England and Wales under the NERC Act 2006.

The current study, conducted by the University of Exeter, discovered that as global temperatures increase, the species is expected to expand northward, especially along the British coast.

According to Dr. Tom Jenkins of the University of Exeter, they created models to anticipate the current and future (2081-2100) habitat of pink sea fans in a region covering the Bay of Biscay, the British Isles, and southern Norway.

The model projections identified existing regions of appropriate habitat beyond the pink sea fan's current northern distribution boundaries, in locations where colonies have yet to be detected.

It's unclear why pink sea fans haven't invaded these places yet. Possible constraints include limited larval dispersion and intense competition among species for space and resources.

Future estimates for this species found an overall decline in appropriate habitat in the research area's southern section and an associated rise in the species' range's northern portion.

Pink sea fans, like many other octocoral species, are ecologically significant because they give complexity to reef systems and promote marine biodiversity, particularly when they form thick 'forests.'

Because fragmented or sick colonies may be a sign of deteriorated settings, they can also be utilized as a larger measure of ecosystem health.

Read more: One of the Most Vibrant Coral Reef Systems in the World Faces a Dangerous Threat

Another coral species to save coral reefs

Rice coral is prevalent in the seas near Hawaii and the north and central Pacific.

However, finger coral and lobe coral are widespread throughout the Pacific and Indian Oceans, and their capacity to survive might be an indication that coral reefs will be able to recover from the verge of collapse in the future, according to the study.

Lobe coral, in particular, is an important reef builder in the Pacific.

Alan Friedlander, a coral reef biologist at the University of Hawaii who was not involved in the study, believes additional marine protected areas are needed to preserve these climate-adaptive corals from local pollution and deterioration.

Friedlander leads National Geographic's Pristine Seas campaign, which advocates marine protected zones.

This research suggests that coral reefs may survive and even thrive in the future if carbon dioxide emissions are reduced and local stressors like overfishing, sedimentation, and pollution are managed, he adds.

However, her team's findings may give evidence for more proactive reef management.

Given the current status of corals, some environmentalists feel that simply protecting them from pollution and fishing and leaving them alone is no longer sufficient and that an active restoration effort is required.

Andréa Grottoli, a coral biogeochemist at Ohio State and the senior author of the study says that knowing that a coral species like lobe coral can withstand climate change makes it a contender for restoration initiatives that select hardy corals and install them in deteriorated reefs.

Related article: Strange Fish Songs Reveal That Indonesia's Coral Reefs Are Rapidly Recovering