Coral Gardening - Nursery Phase — Biscayne National Park, Florida

OPP-F79BX6permanent identifier · cite as oceanportfolio.org/p/OPP-F79BX6

Published as: Propagation of the threatened staghorn coral Acropora cervicornis: methods to minimize the impacts of fragment collection and maximize production | Technique: Coral Gardening - Nursery Phase | Disturbance addressed: General degradation | Genera: Acropora | Method: Staghorn colonies (30-295cm) had been growing in the nursery for 2 years. One 2.5 cm (small tip) and one 3.5 cm (large tip) fragment were collected from each donor colony, and an unfragmented control branch was chosen from each donor colony. A subset of colonies was chosen haphazardly as unfragmented controls. Growth was monitored. | Survival of transplants reported by the source: 64% | Post-restoration monitoring: 4.3 months | Authors' conclusion: The growth of colonies within the nursery exceeded the growth rates of wild staghorn colonies. The collection of branch tips did not result in any further mortality to the donor colonies. Donor branches grew faster than control branches after an initial recovery period of approximately 3–6 weeks. Fragmentation did not affect the growth rates of non-donor branches within the same colony. | Lessons reported: The collection of small (2.5–3.5 cm) branch tips was an effective propagation method for this branching coral species resulting in increased biomass accumulation and limited damage to parental stocks. | This record was compiled from a published source and has not been confirmed by the organisation that carried out the work. No contribution to the condition index is recorded: the source reports survival of transplanted material, which is not a measure of ecosystem condition.

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