Orbicella faveolata, a Caribbean coral with a boulder-like shape, and Pocillopora eydouxi, a coral from the Indian Ocean with branching clusters, are both stony corals—the type that builds reefs. Increasing stony coral colonies worldwide is a key objective for ecologists, since land-based runoff and other pressures are causing growing harm to reefs. In the wild, crustose coralline algae (CCA) promote growth in the healthy reefs they inhabit by releasing lipids and other metabolites—chemical cues that trigger coral larvae settlement. Biotechnology researcher Lina Haddad and team have developed a tool to restore those cues in damaged reefs: a gel coating infused with metabolites derived from Indian Ocean CCA. In tests with Porites lutea, an Indian Ocean stony coral, settlement rates rose substantially.
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Verbal·Information and Ideas·Command of Evidence
hardWhich finding, if true, would best support a claim that the new tool already has the capacity to support the scope of the ecologists’ objective?
A
The lipids and other metabolites derived from Indian Ocean CCA seem to remain stable for long periods under a variety of water temperatures and environmental conditions.
B
Exposure to lipids and other metabolites released by CCA from Indian Ocean reefs improves settlement rates for larvae of Orbicella faveolata and a variety of other coral species in regions outside the Indian Ocean.
C
In Indian Ocean reefs, higher concentrations of lipids and other metabolites released by local CCA are linked to larger colonies of Pocillopora eydouxi and greater overall diversity of coral species.
D
When CCA are present and releasing lipids and other metabolites, larvae settlement rates improve nearly as much in damaged reefs with Porites lutea as they do in healthy reefs containing that coral.