Mighty Larvae
Credit: Mikhail Matz
Coral larvae like this can float hundreds of miles across the ocean—and it turns out that’s good news for their species. Mikhail Matz, an associate professor of integrative biology, found that some corals in the Great Barrier Reef tolerate heat better: the ones whose parent came from a distant, warmer part of the ocean. With reefs worldwide at risk, the discovery suggests corals can adapt to climate change. But it will require some match-making between the corals native to cool waters and those from warmer waters farther away.