International Journal of Molecular Ecology and Conservation, 2025, Vol.15, No.6, 260-266 http://ecoevopublisher.com/index.php/ijmec 265 experience long-term decline and even disappear in certain areas. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the reasons why coral restoration sometimes fails. As heat stress intensifies, the adaptive evolution of corals is crucial for their long-term survival. Studies have shown that the differences in heat tolerance among various algal strains, the genetic characteristics of coral hosts, epigenetic regulation, and changes in ecological strategies all affect the survival potential of corals. These adaptation processes usually take time. Despite this, signs of natural selection, changes in population genetics, and cases of "rapid adaptation" have already been observed in some coral groups. This indicates that corals still have some room for evolution. Even so, it remains unclear whether this evolutionary potential is sufficient to cope with future climate warming. Under global change, the future of coral reefs will rely on both natural recovery and human intervention. Ecological engineering methods - including coral nurseries, cultivation of heat-tolerant strains, and local cooling or shading - can help protect areas under high risk. At the same time, reducing local stressors, improving Marine protected-area planning, and setting more forward-looking management policies form the basic support needed to raise overall resilience. In the long term, coral reefs may only keep their ecological roles and biodiversity through combined global emission reduction and strong regional ecological management. Acknowledgments The author sincerely appreciates the valuable opinions and suggestions provided by the two anonymous reviewers, whose meticulous review helped us improve the quality of this article. Conflict of Interest Disclosure The author affirms that this research was conducted without any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. References Al-Hammady M.A., Silva T.F., Hussein H.N., Saxena G., Modolo L.V., Belasy M.B., and Farag M.A., 2022, How do algae endosymbionts mediate for their coral host fitness under heat stress? A comprehensive mechanistic overview, Algal Research, 67: 102850. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.algal.2022.102850 Bang A., Kuo C., Wen C., Cherh K., Ho M., Cheng N., Chen Y., and Chen C., 2021, Quantifying coral reef resilience to climate change and human development: An evaluation of multiple empirical frameworks, Frontiers in Marine Science, 7: 610306. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2020.610306 Banaszak A., Speelman P., Parger M., and Schoepf V., 2023, Divergent recovery trajectories of intertidal and subtidal coral communities highlight habitat-specific recovery dynamics following bleaching in an extreme macrotidal reef environment, PeerJ, 11. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.15987 Bisanti L., La Corte C., Dara M., Bertini F., Rizzuto G., Valenti R., Naselli F., Parrinello D., Parisi M., Tomasello A., Caradonna F., Chemello R., and Cammarata M., 2025, Stress memory and epigenome variations: Insights into the thermal tolerance potential of Cladocora caespitosa, Frontiers in Marine Science, 12: 1579913. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2025.1579913 Brown K., Eyal G., Dove S., and Barott K., 2022, Fine-scale heterogeneity reveals disproportionate thermal stress and coral mortality in thermally variable reef habitats during a marine heatwave, Coral Reefs, 42: 131-142. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-022-02328-6 Brown K.T., Lenz E.A., Glass B.H., Kruse E., McClintock R., Drury C., Nelson C.E., Putnam H.M., Barott K.L., and 2023, Divergent bleaching and recovery trajectories in reef-building corals following a decade of successive marine heatwaves, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 120(52): e2312104120. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2312104120 Cunning R., and Baker A., 2020, Thermotolerant coral symbionts modulate heat stress‐responsive genes in their hosts, Molecular Ecology, 29(15): 2940-2950. https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.15526 Doering T., Maire J., Chan W.Y., Perez-Gonzalez A., Meyers L., Sakamoto R., Buthgamuwa I., Blackall L.L., and van Oppen M.J.H., 2023, Comparing the role of ROS and RNS in the thermal stress response of two cnidarian models, Antioxidants, 12(5): 1057. https://doi.org/10.3390/antiox12051057 Eakin C., Sweatman H., and Brainard R., 2019, The 2014-2017 global-scale coral bleaching event: Insights and impacts, Coral Reefs, 38: 539-545. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-019-01844-2 Hoegh‐Guldberg O., Poloczanska E., Skirving W., and Dove S., 2017, Coral reef ecosystems under climate change and ocean acidification, Frontiers in Marine Science, 4: 252954. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2017.00158
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