Research on Key Technologies of Hainan Coral Genebank

In order to promote the protection of coral reef resources and the sustainable development of marine ecology in our province and at home and abroad, and form a new marine industry, our institute studies the living preservation of coral germplasm, the cultivation and preservation of coral tissue balls, and the research and exploration of coral molecular identification. conditions to establish a coral germplasm bank.

Coverage: Reef-building corals and non-reef-building corals in the South China Sea, such as staghorn coral, soft coral, gorgonian, etc., a total of 50 species of coral.

Some of the species preserved in the wild are shown below.

Picture (left) Porites andrewsi; (right) Heliofungia actiniformis

Picture (left) Lobophytum depressum; (right) Madracis kirbyi

The coral seedlings grown in the laboratory are as follows:

Picture (left) Porites lutea: (right) Galaxea fascicoularis

The establishment of the coral germplasm bank is to establish the Ruoya Ark for the ecological restoration of coral reefs, and also to provide precious germplasm resources for the sustainable utilization of a series of scientific researches on corals. In the ecological restoration of coral reefs, this study was established on the seabed of Yazhou Bay. A coral cultivation farm has been established, and ecological restoration activities have been carried out, and certain results have been achieved.

In this study, coral germplasm bank research was carried out, closely following social needs and ecological hotspots, and achieved positive results. Three types of coral germplasm banks were initially established, namely indoor bank, field bank and coral tissue ball. The typhoon resistance ability and coral growth rate of different wild banks were compared and studied, and the coral germplasm bank was used to carry out in-depth research on the ecological restoration of coral reefs and the classification of coral bleaching based on carbon neutrality.

This study is the first in the world to establish a coral bleaching classification standard based on coral carbon neutrality, which will be of great significance for my country to participate in international carbon trading and guide future new rules for international blue carbon trading.