5. The Surprising Mobility of Coral Polyps
Against the conventional wisdom that holds corals to be immobile organisms, new studies have revealed the amazing capacity of coral polyps to migrate and shift themselves. This amazing find questions our basic knowledge of coral life and has important ramifications for attempts at reef protection and restoration. Coral polyps have been seen by scientists separating from their initial colonies and traveling to new sites—sometimes across rather large distances relative to their size. This mobility lets corals flee bad conditions, hunt new habitats, and even rearrange themselves inside a colony for best development and survival. The revelation of coral movement provides fresh perspectives on how reefs could adapt to changing environmental conditions—including those brought about by climate change. It implies that, given changing ocean conditions, corals may be more resilient and adaptable than before believed, therefore enabling their migration to more fit environments. Given increasing sea temperatures and ocean acidity, this result is especially significant since it suggests that some coral species could be able to actively search out colder or more suitable conditions. Moreover, this find affects methods of restoring coral reefs. Knowing coral mobility might help to develop more efficient techniques of coral propagation and transplantation in degraded reef environments. It also emphasizes the need of maintaining several reef environments to offer possible “destination” locations for coral relocation. Research on this phenomenon will help us to better understand coral survival tactics and create more focused methods of reef protection as well.