04 August: Paul G. Allen supports coral reef research to reverse rapid decline
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Human Assisted Evolution Applied to Increase the Resilience of Corals
SEATTLE, August 4, 2015 –The quest to stabilize and restore coral reefs, a critical component of our ocean ecosystem, is receiving increased help through a unique research project supported by Paul G. Allen’s Vulcan Inc. As ocean temperatures rise and oceans become more acidic, corals are declining in record numbers. A new project and winner of the 2013 Paul G. Allen Ocean Challenge will apply human-assisted evolution in developing resilient coral species to help reverse this decline.
“Not all corals are created equal,” said researcher and co-grantee Ruth D. Gates from the University of Hawaii at Mānoa. “We will capitalize on those corals that already show a stronger ability to withstand the changing ocean environment and their capacity to pass this resilience along to new generations.”
The winning research team of Gates and Madeleine van Oppen from the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) was awarded the $10,000 grand prize and invited to submit a grant proposal for funding consideration. A nearly $4-million, five-year project agreement was reached in June of this year, with research timed to maximize this summer’s peak coral reproduction season in North America.
“Paul Allen is deeply committed to ocean health and has a growing portfolio of programs targeted at the protection of marine life,” explained Dune Ives, senior director of philanthropy at Vulcan Inc. “This project uniquely addresses the need to reverse the rapid decline of our coral reef ecosystems.”
Initial research will be conducted in Hawaii and Australia, providing an unparalleled opportunity to study different coral species, environmental conditions and human factors to generate stronger research conclusions than single-site data.
At the University of Hawaii’s Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology on Coconut Island, Gates and her team are working with a set of corals that were unaffected by a warming event last year that caused bleaching in many of their neighboring adjacent strains. These resilient corals are being conditioned to survive in increasingly warmer and more acidic water. Gates refers to this as “training corals on environmental treadmills.” The goal is to induce greater resilience in the individual samples as well as in their offspring.
“Once we have a proof of concept, we’ll build a bank of coral stocks that are preconditioned to withstand the warmer and more acidic ocean conditions of the future,” said Gates. “Within the five-year grant period we should have a significant stockpile of highly resilient coral strains and a plan in place to use them to restore a completely denuded reef, as well as plant them on a partially damaged reef so they can reproduce with the existing corals and enhance the overall resilience of the vulnerable reef.”
The Australian experiments will be conducted the state-of-the art National Sea Simulator (SeaSim) located on the campus of AIMS headquarters in Cape Ferguson. The SeaSim allows for tightly controlled environmental factors including temperature and water acidity during the selective breeding-style activities.
The Australian-component of the research will include other aspects of human-assisted evolution. This is an innovative use of the age-old selective breeding techniques similar to those used in the agriculture industry. “Assisted evolution takes advantage of natural processes,” said van Oppen. “It accelerates the evolution of coral and with the rapid decline of coral health worldwide, the development of tools to help protect corals from stress is urgent.”
“At Vulcan, we are excited about this project because of the significant need that it addresses,” said Ives. “If coral reefs continue to decline due to warmer, more acidic ocean water, marine ecosystems will forever be altered with ripple effects that we don’t yet fully comprehend.”
About Vulcan Inc.
Vulcan Inc. creates and advances a variety of world-class endeavors and high-impact initiatives that change and improve the way people live, learn, do business and experience the world. Founded in 1986 by investor and philanthropist Paul G. Allen, Vulcan oversees priority philanthropic programs and business interests including real estate holdings, investments in dozens of companies, including the Seattle Seahawks NFL, Seattle Sounders FC Major League Soccer, and Portland Trail Blazers NBA franchises, First & Goal Inc., the Seattle Cinerama theatre, and the Science Fiction Museum & Hall of Fame. For more information, visit www.vulcan.com.
About the University of Hawaii System
Established in 1907 and fully accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, the University of Hawaii System includes 10 campuses and dozens of educational, training and research centers across the state. As the sole public system of higher education in Hawaii, UH offers an array of undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees and community programs. UH enrolls more than 60,000 students from Hawai‘i, the U.S. mainland and around the world. For more information visit www.hawaii.edu.
About Australian Institute of Marine Science
The Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) is Australia’s tropical marine research agency, committed to producing the highest quality science to better understand our coastal and ocean environment. AIMS’ mission is to generate and transfer knowledge to support the protection and sustainable use of the marine environment, through innovative, world-class scientific and technological research.
FOR MEDIA INQUIRIES:
Georgina Kenyon, AIMS
+61(0)7 4753 4265
Janet Greenlee (US)
206-342-2352
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