Exploring selective breeding as a strategy to increase the thermal resilience of reef-building corals (joint Munich Geocenter and GeoBio-CenterLMU seminar)

Coral reefs are highly diverse ecosystems that provide invaluable services to the environment, economies, and societies, with an estimated global value of ~10 trillion USD annually. Despite their ecological success, coral reefs are vulnerable to environmental changes, such as the effects of climate change. Unusually high temperatures can induce the breakdown of the symbiotic relationships between corals and their photosynthetic endosymbionts, also known as coral bleaching. This phenomenon often results in coral mortality and widespread damage to coral reef ecosystems. With the increasing frequency and intensity of warming events, coral reefs are under threat of extinction. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop and implement effective conservation strategies that can promote the adaptation of coral species to increasing temperatures. Selective breeding has emerged as a potential solution for accelerating the evolution of reef-building corals with increased heat tolerance. In this seminar, I will discuss our current research on selective breeding in corals and its potential as a mechanism for fast-tracking the evolutionary adaptation of these species to climate change.