A collaborative research group led by Miyazaki University evaluated the risk of regional extinction of corals by genetic analysis of corals that inhabit a wide area from the subtropical zone to the temperate zone.
There is a fact that the number of corals that are endangered in the subtropical zone is increasing in the temperate zone of Japan as the seawater temperature rises due to global warming.From this, it is pointed out that the temperate zone of Japan plays an important role as an evacuation site to prevent the extinction of species for subtropical corals.However, it is unclear whether the temperate coral population is a stable population that will not be extinct due to environmental changes, or how coral larvae are dispersed by ocean currents from the subtropical zone to the temperate zone. there were.
Therefore, the group conducted a population genetic analysis on "Kushihadamidoriishi", which inhabits a wide area from the subtropical zone to the temperate zone, and investigated the genetic diversity of each population.As a result, it was found that genetic diversity is high in the temperate regions south of Wakayama, where corals have been inhabited for a long time, and it has been shown that it may function as an evacuation site for near-threatened corals inhabiting the subtropical zone. rice field.
Furthermore, as a result of the seawater flow model, it was found that the direct dispersion of coral larvae from the subtropical zone to the temperate zone rarely occurs in one generation and takes multiple generations.This means that not all coral species can migrate from the subtropical zone to the temperate zone, and conservation of subtropical coral remains important.
Paper information:[Scientific Reports] The potential role of temperate Japanese regions as refugia for the coral Acropora hyacinthus in the face of climate change
