Assisted sexual coral recruits show high thermal tolerance to the 2023 Caribbean mass bleaching event.

ABSTRACT: Assisted sexual coral propagation, resulting in greater genet diversity via genetic recombination, has been hypothesized to lead to more adaptable and, hence, resilient restored populations compared to more common clonal techniques. Coral restoration efforts have resulted in substantial populations of 'Assisted sexual Recruits' (i.e., juvenile corals derived from assisted sexual reproduction; AR) of multiple species outplanted to reefs or held in in situ nurseries across many locations in the Caribbean. These AR populations provided context to evaluate their relative resilience compared to co-occurring coral populations during the 2023 marine heat wave of unprecedented duration and intensity that affected the entire Caribbean. Populations of six species of AR, most ranging in age from 1-4

SUBMITTER: Miller MW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11410220 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature