Periodic Reporting for period 3 - Microns2Reefs (From microns to reefs: mechanistic insights into coral biomineralisation and the fate of coral reefs)
Reporting period: 2023-08-01 to 2025-01-31
Coral Reefs are under threat from climate change, pollution and other local and global anthropogenic disturbances. Microns2Reefs will go beyond the state of the art by providing the mechanistic understanding needed to accurately predict their fate given the multifaceted and multifactorial anthropogenic threats they face. Coral reefs provide many ecosystem functions, from coastal defence to sustaining fisheries. These, and many others, critically depend on the 3D framework of the reef made from the skeletons of Scleractinian corals. The coral biomineralisation tool kit is known but key questions remain: what biomineralisation tools are most important? what and how do environmental and biological factors limit and influence biomineralisation? how does the environmental sensitivity of coral biomineralisation determine the diversity, resilience, and survivability of individual colonies and the entire reef? The answers to these questions are key to inform the strategies needed to effectively manage these diversity hotspots and are placed into sharp focus by recent coral mass mortality events and the rapidity of anthropogenic climate change.
Microns2Reefs will produce a step change by integrating a raft of new and innovative scientific techniques to provide a mechanistic understanding of coral biomineralisation and hence coral reef resilience. Microns2Reefs has four objectives:
1) to develop a novel multimodal imaging technique to reconstruct the nature of the calcifying fluid and the biomineralisation process in 3D;
2) use this to build a detailed model of coral biomineralisation;
3) develop a mechanistic understanding of the relationship between environment and skeleton construction;
4) quantify the future resilience of corals and coral reefs in the face of multiple anthropogenic stressors. Microns2Reefs is only now feasible due to recent analytical developments, exchange of knowledge and ideas from biomedical sciences, and advances in geochemistry and coral genomics.
Microns2Reefs will produce a step change by integrating a raft of new and innovative scientific techniques to provide a mechanistic understanding of coral biomineralisation and hence coral reef resilience. Microns2Reefs has four objectives:
1) to develop a novel multimodal imaging technique to reconstruct the nature of the calcifying fluid and the biomineralisation process in 3D;
2) use this to build a detailed model of coral biomineralisation;
3) develop a mechanistic understanding of the relationship between environment and skeleton construction;
4) quantify the future resilience of corals and coral reefs in the face of multiple anthropogenic stressors. Microns2Reefs is only now feasible due to recent analytical developments, exchange of knowledge and ideas from biomedical sciences, and advances in geochemistry and coral genomics.
Progress has been made on all four areas with recent publications (Buckingham et al. 2022; Coral Reefs) documenting the relationship between nutrient availability and skeletal formation and detailing our laser ablation methodologies (Chalk et al., 2021, Nature Scientific Reports). Publications are in preparation or submission in the following areas:
a. Multimodal imaging approch which is the foundation of the CalcIMAGE approach (objective #1)
b. A mechanism by which temperature influences coral calcification (objective #2&3)
c. An environmental perspective on sustainable coral reef restoration (objective #3)
a. Multimodal imaging approch which is the foundation of the CalcIMAGE approach (objective #1)
b. A mechanism by which temperature influences coral calcification (objective #2&3)
c. An environmental perspective on sustainable coral reef restoration (objective #3)
We detailed a new methodology to generate 2D maps of the boron isotopic composition of coral skeletons (Chalk et al. 2021; Nature Scientific Reports). We have made significant progress in establishing a method of multimodal imaging where we combine Coherent Anti-stokes Raman Spectroscopy images of the distribution of organics in coral skeletons with laser ablation ICPMS and MC-ICPMS images of the geochemistry of the skeleton. We anticipate submission of a paper on this in the next 3 months.