Taronga’s scientists are working to save Australia’s reef systems by protecting their genetic diversity and health.
Taronga’s scientists are working to save Australia’s reef systems by protecting their genetic diversity and health.
The Great Barrier Reef and other reef systems around the world are threatened by ocean warming and acidification caused by climate change. Coral reefs are complex ecosystems that support millions of people worldwide and provide habitat for around a third of all marine species.
Mass coral bleaching is widely recognised as one of the greatest threats to corals worldwide. Australians and the world are witness to the sixth mass bleaching event on the Great Barrier Reef in less than a decade, making efforts to secure the genetic diversity of coral populations more important than ever.
Corals have a symbiotic relationship with photosynthetic algae which provide them with energy and their diverse colours. When corals become stressed (e.g., when water temperatures become too warm), this relationship breaks down, causing the coral to expel the symbiotic algae and turn white. Coral bleaching can lead to disease and death.
Conditions imposed by climate change and a strong El Niño triggered two waves of mass coral bleaching starting in late summer of 2016, leading to sharp declines in coral species and habitats globally. The Great Barrier Reef alone has experienced six mass bleaching events over the past decade, and in 2025 reefs in the Ningaloo region in Western Australia experienced one of the most severe bleaching events ever recorded.
Events like these can have a significant impact on species and populations on the reef, making efforts to secure the genetic diversity of coral populations more important than ever. Taronga’s team of conservation biologists working with the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), the Smithsonian Institution, and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation have been cryopreserving coral gametes during annual spawning seasons since 2011, focussing on prioritised species to support reef resilience for conservation management of Australia’s reefs.
The CryoDiversity Banks at the Taronga Institute of Science & Learning (Cammeraigal Country, Sydney) and at Taronga Western Plains Zoo (Wiradjuri Country, Dubbo) make up the largest repository of cryopreserved coral samples in the world, with over 5000 samples from 606 coral colonies across 30+ identified species from over ten Traditional Custodian sea Countries.
Taronga’s CryoDiversity Bank is providing an important resource assisting coral breeding programs for reef resilience and helping to support a shared future for the reef and its people.
Key to managing these samples is a cross-cultural approach that maintains the cultural safety of the samples and their connections to Country, which has been developed in partnership with Woppaburra Traditional Custodians of the Great Barrier Reef, the Gamay Rangers of the La Perouse Local Aboriginal Land Council, and the AIMS Indigenous Partnerships team.
Coral larvae produced from sperm cryopreserved by Taronga scientists were deployed for the very first time in November 2024, marking a critical step towards scaling up reef resilience efforts.
Meet Taronga’s scientists and learn about their research, expertise and contributions to wildlife conservation, welfare and environmental science.
Find out more about how Taronga is using biobanking to secure genetic diversity and contribute to species recovery across Australian ecosystems.
Explore Taronga’s biodiversity conservation work, including research, habitat projects and programs that support resilient ecosystems and native species.
