Study says coral can 'talk'? It is not a plant as a marine rainforest that needs to be protected?

Are corals plants or animals? It has been quarreling for thousands of years.

Theophrastus, a student of the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, called coral "Korallion" in a book about stones, implying that it was a type of mineral.

The ancient Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder believed that corals were neither plants nor animals, and should belong to the third group of organisms.

The French and Latin Names of the Fishes of the Marseilles, published by Petrus Gyllius in 1535, copied Pliny's setting and introduced the concept of a third type of creature.

And in the Babylonian Talmud, coral is placed in the list of trees.

Until the 18th century, the Swedish scientist Linnaeus classified it as a rock plant. But in the end, William Herschel also used a microscope to reveal the true face of the coral, confirming that the coral has a thin cell membrane characteristic of animals.

The body of a coral consists of two germ layers: the outer cell layer is called the ectoderm; the inner cell layer is called the endoderm. Between the inner and outer germ layers, there is a thin mesodermal layer without cellular structure. Food enters from the mouth, and food residues are discharged from the mouth. These animals have no head and trunk, no nerve center, only the diffuse nervous system. When exposed to external stimuli, the entire animal body responds.

Because corals provide habitats for a variety of plants and animals, coral reefs are often referred to as the rainforest of the ocean. Given the importance of corals to the ocean, South Florida State University student researcher Camila Rimoldi Ibanez was particularly interested in understanding how corals communicate.

Using a process called polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification, the researchers looked for genes in corals associated with the emission or reception of sound. This process expands a stretch of DNA so that scientists can easily study it in greater detail.

In the process, the researchers noticed the presence of genes in corals related to hearing and producing sounds in sea anemones and freshwater polyps, so they thought corals could communicate through sound.

This helps us understand how to better protect corals by reducing noise.

Coral is an important food source for marine life, a precious jewel symbolizing auspiciousness, a precious medicinal material that has been passed down for thousands of years, and a guardian of the coastline. But this ocean treasure, which has existed for about 535 million years, is in danger of disappearing.

You must know that the area of ​​coral reefs in the world is less than two thousandths of the total area of ​​the ocean, but it supports a quarter of marine life and is the basis for the survival of many marine animals and plants.

Parrotfish, rough-skinned sea bream, damselfish and other fish that feed on algae will eat symbiotic algae near coral, or use the body color similar to coral to avoid predators. At the same time, these small fish attract other organisms such as larger fish, making the coral and its surrounding area a rich ecosystem.

Coral reefs are therefore important for maintaining commercially valuable fishery resources. In Malaysia, 30 percent of the fish is caught from coral reefs.

In the past, coral was also often regarded as a precious mineral due to its dazzling and colorful characteristics, and was often used in court jewelry in the form of coral beads.

And in medicine, compounds from coral could potentially be used to treat cancer, AIDS, pain relief, and other therapeutic uses.

A healthy coral reef can absorb 97% of the energy of waves, thereby buffering the impact of currents, waves and storms on the coastline and helping to avoid loss of life and property.

Sadly, as early as the 1980s, climate warming had seriously affected the ecological health of coral communities around the world, but people did not wake up, and even some scientists disagreed. They believe that, after a period of time, the coral will recover naturally.

But as the saying goes, the more beautiful things are, the more squeamish they are.

Corals can only live in waters where the water temperature is maintained at 22-28 degrees Celsius throughout the year, and the water quality must be clean, high transparency, sufficient sunlight, and not exposed to the water surface for a long time at low tide.

Therefore, it is conceivable that the natural recovery of corals will only be human wishful thinking. The subsequent coral mortality event not only caused an uproar in the scientific community, but also attracted worldwide attention.

Since 1998, 16% of the world's tropical coral reefs have died due to rising water temperatures; in 2016, 70% of the world's coral reefs have been destroyed; by 2019, the Great Barrier Reef, known as Australia's "crown jewel", Completely lost 50% of the coral.

As of 2020, humans have lost more than half of the world's coral reefs, much faster than originally expected, and the trend of coral mortality has not eased.

On September 18, 2019, a related article published in the British "Nature" magazine said: If the climate continues to warm, the world's coral reefs are expected to disappear by 2070. In this way, this severe ecological disaster has reached the point where human beings have to make changes.

Many governments now ban coral removal from reefs and inform coastal residents about reef conservation and ecology. Even created a new profession: growing corals.

During the coral breeding season, researchers would squat on the seafloor for several days in order to collect fertilized coral eggs. Then through artificial larval proliferation technology, the fertilized eggs develop into coral larvae, and then they are put back on the artificial reef in the designated sea area. Once adult corals have grown, they can then be transplanted to other seabeds.

Taking the South China Sea as an example, researchers have successfully planted more than 200,000 square meters of coral.

While local actions such as habitat restoration and herbivore protection can reduce local damage, long-term threats from acidification, temperature change and sea level rise remain a challenge. In order to avoid the continued acidification of seawater and the continued rise in temperature, it may be the best way to achieve carbon neutrality.