VOA科学技术2024--Scientists Say They Have Bred Corals to Better Resist Warm Oceans

Scientists say they have successfully reproduced corals to improve their resistance to warmer ocean temperatures.

The latest effort is one of many that seeks to prevent major coral destruction events known as bleaching. The scientists blame the bleaching on ocean warming caused by climate change.

Coral bleaching happens when the small ocean animals react to climate pressures by releasing algae organisms that provide them with energy and give them their color. If the bleaching is severe and long-lasting, corals can get sick and die.

Scientists and environmental officials have warned major bleaching events are currently affecting ocean coral collections in many areas across the world. Many researchers link the continued warming of Earth's oceans to climate changes related to human activities.

In April, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and International Coral Reef Initiative said at least 53 countries, territories, or local economies reported ongoing bleaching events since February 2023.

The latest research aimed to reproduce corals that can become more resistant to warm ocean temperatures. To do this, the researchers used a method known as selective breeding. Scientists have long used this method to produce animals and plants with more desirable characteristics.

This process can produce living things that are better able to deal with, or tolerate, different environmental conditions. Selective breeding is now a main method used by scientists to study how the process can prevent ocean warming from killing off corals.

The new research was led by scientists at Britain's Newcastle University. The team recently reported their findings in a study appearing in the publication Nature Communications. The study said their selective breeding methods resulted in improved heat tolerance of adult corals, even within a single generation.

Scientists have for years been observing corals that show more heat-resistant qualities. These corals are used as the parents for new corals.

The researchers said their experiments showed that breeding heat-tolerant characteristics into different corals could be a useful tool "to improve population resilience." However, the team noted the method would likely not be enough by itself to effectively protect corals. This is because increasingly intense ocean warming is expected to continue if additional steps are not taken to reduce the worldwide effects of climate change.

The scientists noted, therefore, that methods to reproduce heat-resistant corals must be a part of overall efforts that require "urgent climate action."

The research team's experiments were carried out during a five-year project launched by Newcastle's James Guest. The effort received financial support from the European Research Council.

The team said it carried out selective breeding tests involving two different characteristics. The first sought to improve the tolerance to the release of a short, intense heat event - over 10 days with a temperature rise of 3.5 degrees Celsius. The second tested results for a less intense, but long-term temperature rise of 2.5 degrees Celsius over one month.

The study found that "selecting parent colonies for high rather than low heat tolerance increased the tolerance of adult offspring." The result was observed for corals experiencing either a short, intense heat event or a long-term temperature rise.

The team estimated that about 25 percent of the increased heat tolerance was linked to genes passed down from parents of the corals. These genes can also be influenced by other selective breeding methods to produce heat-tolerance characteristics, the researchers said.

Newcastle researcher Liam Lachs helped lead the study. He said in a statement the research clearly demonstrated that selective breeding can be a valuable tool in improving the health of corals influenced by warming oceans. However, he noted the tested methods are not a complete solution and that "more research is needed to maximize" breeding results.

The researchers said they plan next to lead efforts to carry out large experiments on corals in the wild to confirm the study results. These efforts would involve seeding selectively bred corals directly on ocean reefs, or deploying corals raised in a laboratory.

I'm Bryan Lynn.

Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from Newcastle University, Nature and The Conversation.

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Words in This Story

coral - n. a hard, usually pink or white substance produced by a type of very small sea animal

algae - n. usually small plants that grow in or near water and do not have typical leaves of roots

characteristic - n. a typical quality that makes one person or thing different from others

resilient - adj. strong enough to get better quickly after suffering damage from illness, shock, etc.

maximize - v. to increase something as much as you can

reef - n. a collection of rocks or coral or a ridge of sand at or near the surface of water

0 bleaching   

漂白法，漂白

参考例句：

• Moderately weathered rock showed more intense bleaching and fissuring in the feldspars. 中等风化岩石则是指长石有更为强烈的变白现象和裂纹现象。
• Bleaching effects are very strong and show on air photos. 退色效应非常强烈，并且反映在航空象片上。

0 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

0 algae   

n.水藻，海藻

参考例句：

• Most algae live in water.多数藻类生长在水中。
• Algae grow and spread quickly in the lake.湖中水藻滋蔓。

0 atmospheric   

adj.大气的，空气的；大气层的；大气所引起的

参考例句：

• Sea surface temperatures and atmospheric circulation are strongly coupled.海洋表面温度与大气环流是密切相关的。
• Clouds return radiant energy to the surface primarily via the atmospheric window.云主要通过大气窗区向地表辐射能量。

0 resistant   

adj.(to)抵抗的，有抵抗力的

参考例句：

• Many pests are resistant to the insecticide.许多害虫对这种杀虫剂有抵抗力。
• They imposed their government by force on the resistant population.他们以武力把自己的统治强加在持反抗态度的人民头上。

0 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。

0 genes   

n.基因( gene的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因，所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪

0 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

0 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

0 deploying   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的现在分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Provides support for developing and deploying distributed, component-based applications. 为开发和部署基于组件的分布式应用程序提供支持。
• Advertisement, publishing, repair, and install-on-demand are all available when deploying your application. 在部署应用程序时提供公布、发布、修复和即需即装功能。

0 Celsius   

adj.摄氏温度计的，摄氏的

参考例句：

• The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
• The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。