top of page
SkyReefPhoto (4)_edited.jpg

Sky Reef Photo

Research

Increasing the fitness of young corals through assisted evolution strategies and zooxanthellae density for coral reef restoration

Research Overview

Scleractinian corals are reef-builders that rely on a mutualistic relationship with microalgal symbionts from the family Symbiodiniaceae to grow and survive. In response to the devastating impacts caused by global warming and coral bleaching, assisted evolution is used to accelerate naturally occurring processes that demonstrate promising active reef restoration strategies. Since coral holobiont heat-tolerance is partially determined by the symbiont strain, our aim is to determine if coral larvae and juveniles from different scleractinian species can acquire heat-evolved symbionts that were adapted to bleaching temperatures in the laboratory.  My experiments not only find the optimal density for the acquisition of symbionts for different coral species but also give deeper insight into future restoration efforts and practitioners. 

​

Miranda S. Altice

AMSA 2023 presentation - copyright MSA

Presenting at the AMSA 2023 conference

Publications in Process

Optimising uptake, growth, and survival of corals inoculated with wild-type and heat-evolved Symbiodiniaceae at different densities for coral reef restoration

coral 1.png
Email
Follow Me
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
NA

© 2023 by Miranda Spencer Altice. Proudly created with Wix.com

bottom of page