Coral reefs build one of the most diverse, fascinating and productive ecosystems in the planet. However, these biological structures are also highly sensitive to the adverse effects of the current climate crisis. Phenomena such as progressive bleaching and massive mortality of coral affect the marine ecosystems of the planet and endanger the future of these communities. In this context, the UB is leading CoralChange, a project that will assess \u2013for the first time- the role of the larval reproduction and ecology in the dynamics and viability on the long term of the threatened coral populations worldwide. To do so, CoralChange counts on the funding from the European Union, and in particular from the Horizon 2020 Marie Sk\u0142odowska-Curie action fellowship.<\/p>\n
With an innovative perspective, CoralChange will promote the knowledge on the future of coral populations using demographical models applied to different global change scenarios. In this line, researcher N\u00faria Viladrich will work on a series of demographic prediction models \u2013with experimental data and field work\u2013 that will include parameters on the physiological condition, trophic plasticity, reproductive success and larval viability of corals.<\/p>\n
The project, managed by the Bosch i Gimpera Foundation (FBG), is coordinated by the lecturer Cristina Linares, from the\u00a0Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences\u00a0of the\u00a0Faculty of Biology\u00a0and the Biodiversity Research Institute (IRBio) of the University of Barcelona. Another participant in the study is the expert N\u00faria Viladrich, from the mentioned Department and IRBio, who will analyse, from 2020 to 2022, the global change-induced transgenerational effects in hexacorallia and octocorals in the Caribean, in collaboration with the team of Jacqueline Padilla-Gami\u00f1o, assistant professor at the University of Washington (United States).<\/p>\n