Listen to an excerpt from an interview between a journalist and Dr. Elena Ramos, lead marine biologist for the Caribbean Coral Restoration Initiative:
Interviewer: 'Dr. Ramos, your team has been evaluating the resilience of different coral species across various pilot sites over the last five years. What specific milestone did your team achieve in the Puerto Morelos reef sector this past year?'
Dr. Ramos: 'While our initial projection aimed to restore three hectares, our new micro-fragmentation technique allowed us to outplant 12,000 nursery-grown Acropora fragments across six hectares. Remarkably, we recorded an 84% survival rate after twelve months, compared to the regional baseline of 55%.'
Interviewer: 'And what was identified as the primary factor driving that exceptional survival rate?'
Dr. Ramos: 'It is predominantly the selective thermal pre-conditioning of parent colonies in land-based nurseries prior to ocean transplantation.'
Based on the interview, which of the following is identified as the primary reason for the 84% survival rate of the transplanted corals?
- AThe expansion of the outplanting zone across six full hectares of reef
- BThe journalist's recommended five-year timeline for pilot evaluations
- The thermal pre-conditioning of parent colonies in land-based nurseriesCevap
- DThe total elimination of elevated ocean temperatures across Caribbean test sites