Madeleine J. H. van Oppen – författare

The rapid demise of coral reefs worldwide has spurred efforts to develop innovative conservation and restoration methods. Many of these rely on omics approaches to produce genetic, genomic, transcriptomic, epigenomic or metabolomic data to inform conservation and restoration interventions. This book provides the state of play of this field. It discusses topics ranging from how genomic and environmental DNA (eDNA) data can be used to inform marine protected area design and cryopreservation strategies, the use of knowledge on adaptive genetic and epigenetic variation to maximise environmental stress tolerance of coral stock, harnessing transcriptome data to develop early warning markers, the use of microbial symbiont omics data in guiding restoration strategies, to applications of metabolomics and genetic engineering. How best to translate omics data to resource managers is also discussed.

One of the most serious consequences of global climate change for coral reefs is the increased frequency and severity of mass coral bleaching events and, since the first edition of this volume was published in 2009, there have been additional mass coral bleaching events. This book provides comprehensive information on the causes and consequences of coral bleaching for coral reef ecosystems, from the genes and microbes involved in the bleaching response, to individual coral colonies and whole reef systems. It presents detailed analyses of how coral bleaching can be detected and quantified and reviews future scenarios based on modeling efforts and the potential mechanisms of acclimatisation and adaptation. It also briefly discusses emerging research areas that focus on the development of innovative interventions aiming to increase coral climate resilience and restore reefs.