WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS
At four St. Thomas sites researchers followed 128 reciprocally transplanted Orbicella annularis fragments during extreme 2023 marine heating above 20 degree-heating-weeks. Bleaching was widespread. Neither source population nor deployment site showed a consistent overall benefit, and much observed mortality clustered in one array.
WHY IT MATTERS / OUR READ
Local sourcing can matter, but its value cannot be inferred from a locality label alone. Restoration trials should separate genotype, nursery history, microhabitat and site-specific exposure while recording the distribution of failures.
CAVEATS / UNCERTAINTY
This was one species in one strong heat event. Mortality patterns were spatially clustered, and small subgroup differences are not proof of a general absence of local adaptation or transplantation effect.
SOURCE
Frontiers in Marine Science · St. Thomas coral reciprocal transplant
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