Robotics Essential to Coral Reef Preservation Efforts

Will 2026 be the year when coral reefs pass their tipping point?

Samantha Garrard, Senior Marine Ecosystem Services Researcher at Plymouth Marine Laboratory, asked the question in The Conversation on January 5.

“Tropical coral reefs cover less than 1% of the seafloor, yet support 25% of all marine species. They are also incredibly vulnerable. Over the past few decades, an estimated 30%-50% have already been lost.”

Garrard concludes: “To help these biodiversity powerhouses survive the 21st century, we must do three things: aggressively cut carbon emissions to cool the water, reduce local stressors like pollution or overfishing and incorporate selective breeding of heat-tolerant corals into restoration plans to improve resilience to heatwaves.”

Research continues to focus on understanding the processes impacting coral reefs. This week it was announcedthat scientists from the University of Plymouth will carry out an assessment of the response and resilience of mesophotic coral ecosystems – coral reef communities found at depths of between 30m and 150m in tropical regions – to the temperature shifts predicted under future climate change.

Over the next five years, the project will focus on these deeper coral reef communities in the Indian Ocean and employ survey technologies for in-situ