June 30, 2017 โ Marine biologist David Vaughan and his team are reproducing coral in the lab and transplanting it along the coasts of Florida in a race against time as reefs are dying at an alarming rate. What would normally take 50 years to grow, his team can do in two or three years.
A former Rutherford resident, โDr. Coralโ earned his masterโs at Farleigh Dickinson University in Rutherford and Ph.D at Rutgers in New Brunswick.
Vaughan studied Meadowlandsโ ecology and grew algae to sustain shellfish at the Jersey Shore before embarking on an ambitious Florida coral reef restoration.
โAt the time, we were just understanding the value of Meadowlands wetlands, but not the submerged Meadowlands,โ Vaughan said.
Recruited to work for Mote Marine Laboratory in Florida, Vaughan taught clam aquaculture. His attention to coral grew as the disappearance of reefs progressed with climate change. Understanding coralโs complexity is key to addressing its plight.
Coral is a plant, animal, microbe and mineral, Vaughan notes.
โCoral is an animal that has a plant inside its tissue and microbial quality on outside, producing calcium carbonate,โ Vaughan said. โItโs highly intolerant to temperature changes, needs to be in 72 to 78 degrees.โ
As temperatures rise, the plant living inside coral starts to produce oxygen faster. The algae produces oxygen faster, coral gets lethargic because it canโt get rid of excess oxygen fast enough.
