[Coral-List] Reef Restoration Genetics

Zac Forsman zforsman2001 at yahoo.com.au
Wed Nov 7 14:49:53 EST 2007


Hi Kelvin,

   Your review will be very useful, but I think you will find that both coral genetics and coral restoration methods are complex, full of challenge and controversy, and still in their infancy (relative to terrestrial work).  Progress in coral genetics has been slowed by a lack of good molecular markers...although there is new ground being broken with microsatellites (see excellent work by Iliana Baums for example).  Coral population genetics is further complicated by the coral 'species problem' -see work by "Charlie" JEN Veron.  Corals are long lived, clonal, and can disperse over huge distances (Cindy Hunter did some pioneering work with allozymes on reefs with different disturbance histories).  The issue is quite complex and there is so much we don't know (though there are a few good reviews on this subject already).

As for question number two, restoration is also a very new, challenging and full of controversy.  Genetics should definitely be into account (e.g. fragmentation of large colonies may not be as good as smaller fragments from multiple colonies), and source coral should come from close by as not to introduce invasive species or disease.  Here is an excellent primer on reef restoration (by Edwards and Gomez):

http://www.gefcoral.org/Portals/25/workgroups/rr_guidelines/rrg_fullguide.pdf

As for question number 3, there is so much we don't know...  We don't know what is a 'species', so it is very hard to know what is rare and what needs to be conserved.  Since we have trouble delineating species, we can have trouble identifying  'populations'.  

There is a great deal to be learned about genetic variation of the holobiont, and how it interacts with the environment; this is also a huge and complex area of research..  I think the idea of identifying 'resistant' strains of coral has been tossed about, which would be good to understand but could be dangerously misinterpreted. 

Although there is much we don't know, it is not due to lack of effort or thought.  Each of your focal areas are very complex and challenging.  Best of luck with your review,  I look forward to reading it!  -Zac

PS, I have a few pdfs that relate to the subjects you might find interesting:

 http://www2.hawaii.edu/~zac/index.html


On Nov 6, 2007 10:36 PM, Kelvin Gorospe <kgorospe at hawaii.edu> wrote:
> Hello Coral Listers,
> 
> I am a PhD Student at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa.  I am
> writing a review paper on the genotypic diversity of coral reefs and
> reef restoration methods and would greatly appreciate your input.  The
> aim of the paper is to:  (1) review the literature to see how
> genotypic diversity on coral reefs relates to coral health on both an
> ecological and evolutionary time scale, (2) propose how reef
> restoration projects may benefit from considering this information in
> their methodologies, and (3) identify areas of coral genetic research
> that should be pursued to bring scientific research closer to
> conservation application.
> 
> I am specifically interested in learning more about past or current
> reef restoration projects.  I am curious to know how much interest
> there is (if any) in employing genetic tools or in considering the
> population genetic implications of these methods.  For example, is
> there any consideration given to how transplanting corals (and thus
> introducing new genotypes) into a population might affect overall
> population fitness?  Do reef restoration methods try to avoid
> propagation of identical clones (for fear of creating clonal stands
> susceptible to disease)?
> 
> Any ideas related to the above would be very helpful.
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> -Kelvin
> 
> --
> Kelvin D. Gorospe
> Hawai'i Institute of Marine Biology
> University of Hawai'i at Manoa
> Department of Zoology, PhD Student
> _______________________________________________
> Coral-List mailing list
> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
> 



-- 
Zac H. Forsman, Ph.D.
Hawaii Coral Reef Initiative Postdoctoral Fellow
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Pacific Islands Fish and Wildlife Office
300 Ala Moana Blvd., Rm 3-122
Honolulu, Hawaii 96850
Telephone 808/792-9427
Fax 808/792-9581

----- Original Message ----
From: Kelvin Gorospe <kgorospe at hawaii.edu>
To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
Sent: Tuesday, November 6, 2007 10:36:59 PM
Subject: [Coral-List] Reef Restoration Genetics

Hello Coral Listers,

I am a PhD Student at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa.  I am
writing a review paper on the genotypic diversity of coral reefs and
reef restoration methods and would greatly appreciate your input.  The
aim of the paper is to:  (1) review the literature to see how
genotypic diversity on coral reefs relates to coral health on both an
ecological and evolutionary time scale, (2) propose how reef
restoration projects may benefit from considering this information in
their methodologies, and (3) identify areas of coral genetic research
that should be pursued to bring scientific research closer to
conservation application.

I am specifically interested in learning more about past or current
reef restoration projects.  I am curious to know how much interest
there is (if any) in employing genetic tools or in considering the
population genetic implications of these methods.  For example, is
there any consideration given to how transplanting corals (and thus
introducing new genotypes) into a population might affect overall
population fitness?  Do reef restoration methods try to avoid
propagation of identical clones (for fear of creating clonal stands
susceptible to disease)?

Any ideas related to the above would be very helpful.

Thanks!

-Kelvin

-- 
Kelvin D. Gorospe
Hawai'i Institute of Marine Biology
University of Hawai'i at Manoa
Department of Zoology, PhD Student
_______________________________________________
Coral-List mailing list
Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list





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