Ecosystem Pushing: Coral Restoration in Refugia as an Unexplored Answer to Climate Change Adaptation

Abstract

Climate change is driving ecosystem change across the biosphere on an unprecedented scale. Large biogeographic shifts are underway as habitats move their ranges towards the poles in an attempt to remain in zones that adhere to organisms’ preferred temperature ranges. These new areas of shifting climatic ranges, or refugia, represent important opportunities for the future survival of countless species in a warming world. However, many species may have colonisation rates too slow to keep up with climate change. This may be due to barriers to dispersal, long time periods in reproductive cycles, survival and viability of offspring, geographic isolation of suitable new habitats, stochasticity and other environmental factors. Ecosystem pushing proposes to propagate species into refugia using restoration techniques with the aim of supporting species survival and ecosystem conservation. This paper proposes ecosystem pushing as a new management intervention for the field of coral reef restoration. Management considerations will need to include geographic models of refugia projections to ascertain appropriate locations for restoration work. Other important considerations would include assessing the risks of losing one ecosystem type for another, invasive species and disease introductions, issues of intervention scale and time constraints, and levels of stakeholder engagement with local communities.