Bleached corals recover fully within seven weeks after contact with healthy clones

· Science

Scientists report the first observation of bleached corals on the brink of death recovering fully after brief contact with healthy clones. Ghostly white corals returned to full health in a laboratory setting within seven weeks, the fastest documented recovery to date, according to a study published in Science Advances. The finding suggests bleaching need not be a one-way path to mortality, and that some recovery mechanism can be triggered by short exposure to healthy tissue. The work was done in the lab rather than on a reef, so its applicability to wild coral systems under continued heat stress is not established by the report. Coral bleaching driven by warming seas is one of the most closely watched ecological risks.

Why it matters：If the recovery effect can be reproduced outside the lab, it would change how reef managers think about intervening after bleaching events, and it points to a mechanism in coral symbiosis that researchers will now try to explain.

Key points

  • Recovery took seven weeks, the fastest documented to date.
  • The trigger was brief contact with healthy clones.
  • The study was published in Science Advances and conducted in a laboratory setting.

Sources (original reporting)

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