Competition and overgrowth by algae is among the primary hazards faced by tiny coral spat (young coral) during their first months in aquaculture or on the reef. Overcoming their low survival during this early life phase represents one of the greatest barriers to upscaling reef restoration. 

This project investigates the potential for the application of non-toxic antifoulant coatings on coral deployment devices to reduce competition by algae and maximise coral recruit growth and survival. 

As reefs experience increasing loss of coral cover due to a variety of environmental events and stressors, genetic diversity in those affected populations continues to be lost. For coral species to be able to adapt to environmental stressors like climate change, genetic diversity is the key. 

Ocean temperatures are getting warmer and hot temperatures can kill corals and degrade reefs. Throughout the 2023 Great Barrier Reef mass spawning season we are trialling two interventions – artificial selection and selective breeding – that aim to breed corals that are tolerant to high temperatures. Tolerant corals might be used to restore reefs threatened by climate change.  

Coral nutrition

In the field, corals obtain sugars (their ‘fast food’) from their symbiotic algae. But most other nutrients are obtained when they feed on live plankton. However, in land-based coral aquaculture settings, these sources of nutrition are not normally available

This project is exploring technological and methodological options to automate, and upscale, the sexual propagation of corals in an aquaculture setting.

The Great Barrier Reef annual mass spawning is an important time of year when corals and other reef animals reproduce. It is one of the most extraordinary natural phenomenon on the planet.

Corals, guided by seasonal warming, moon phases and tides, release egg and sperm into the water around the same time to create new corals. The event usually takes place on a handful of nights following the full moons in October and November, but sometimes in December. It occurs mostly under the cover of night.

The annual mass spawning of corals in the Great Barrier Reef is one of the most extraordinary natural phenomena on the planet. Scientists use this once-a-year opportunity to undertake valuable research needed to understand the early lives of coral.  

AIMS scientists also investigate ways to enhance coral’s tolerance to warming oceans due to climate change and develop methods to scale up and fast-track coral recovery after disturbances.