A group of organizations have launched Project ReefLink, a nationwide U.S. community science initiative enlisting aquarium owners to help map the coral microbiome, the network of microbes essential to coral health and resilience. The groups hope that, by mapping these microbial communities, scientists can identify the organisms that protect corals and the pathogens that threaten them, unlocking new ways to predict disease, develop microbial interventions, and help reefs survive a warming, changing ocean.
“Aquariums represent an untapped frontier for coral research—offering controlled environments where we can track coral health in ways that are challenging in the wild,” said Dr. Braden Tierney, Co-Founder and Executive Director of The Two Frontiers Project (2FP), one of the collaborators. “That control gives us a powerful lens into the microbial mechanisms that keep corals healthy and could one day inform conservation tools ranging from early-warning systems to probiotics and other nature-based solutions.”
Coral reefs sustain over 25% of all marine life and provide food, income, and coastal protection for an estimated one billion people worldwide. But since the 1950s, more than half of the world’s coral reefs have been lost to climate change, overfishing, and pollution, and up to 90% could disappear by 2050.
Collected samples will undergo sequencing and analysis to identify the microbes that influence coral health and disease. Findings will contribute to 2FP’s microbial culture bank of aquarium corals—an open-source ‘living database’ that could lay the groundwork for new applications to help reefs withstand bleaching, disease, and other climate-driven threats.
Seed Health, a microbiome science company pioneering clinically validated innovations for gut and whole-body health, will support the effort through SeedLabs, its environmental research division. Together, the partners, with support from CitSci and Coral Morphologic, have conducted expeditions to sample coral and microbial life thriving around volcanic CO2 seeps—natural laboratories where conditions mimic future ocean warming and acidification—in Sicily and Japan. Early analysis of collected samples has identified dozens of microbial consortia with traits potentially linked to coral colonization and resilience to ocean acidification.
“The climate crisis demands solutions from every corner of science—and some of the most transformative innovations may be hiding in places we’d never expect,” said Seed Health Director of Sustainability and Impact Alison Mehlsak. “From toilets, kitchens, and backyards to aquariums and beyond, our community science initiatives show that discovery can start anywhere—and ripple outward to shape the future of our collective home.”
