Research · Hawaiian Corals Are Not Equally Heat-Tolerant — Place Matters as Much as Species

Research · Hawaiian Corals Are Not Equally Heat-Tolerant — Place Matters as Much as Species

New thermal-stress tests on two Hawaiian reef corals — Montipora capitata and Porites compressa, collected from two bay habitats — show that heat tolerance varies both by species and by the local environmental history of the colony, according to a study published in Scientific Reports on October 13. Corals of the same species from different bays performed differently under identical heat stress, suggesting that prior conditions shape physiological responses in ways a species label alone cannot capture.

For restoration, the finding cuts both ways. One bay's Porites compressa emerged as a promising source of naturally heat-tolerant stock, but the researchers caution that the most heat-tolerant corals are not automatically the best restoration candidates. Keeping genetic diversity and a range of traits in restored reefs may matter more for long-run flexibility as ocean conditions keep changing.

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