Coral Gardening - Transplantation Phase — Curacao

OPP-ACDA39permanent identifier · cite as oceanportfolio.org/p/OPP-ACDA39

Published as: Restoration of critically endangered elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata) populations using larvae reared from wild-caught gametes | Technique: Coral Gardening - Transplantation Phase | Genera: Acropora | Method: Tested whether the effectiveness of restoration efforts for Acropora palmata could be improved by shortening ex situ grow-out periods to two weeks before outplanting settlers on the reef and determined whether post-settlement survival, colony growth and cost-effectiveness was significantly different from those of recruits reared in land-based nurseries over a 2.5 year period. | Survival of transplants reported by the source: 1.95% | Post-restoration monitoring: 31 months | Authors' conclusion: After 2.5 years, the survival rate of A. palmata settlers outplanted two weeks after settlement was 6.8 times higher (3.4%) than that of settlers kept in a land-based nursery (0.5%). Furthermore, 32% of the substrate units on the reef still harbored one or more well developed recruit compared to 3% for substrate units kept in the nursery. In addition to increasing survival, outplanting A. palmata settlers shortly after settlement reduced the costs to produce at least one 2.5-year-old A. palmata individual from $325 to $13 USD. | Lessons reported: This study highlights the first successful long-term rearing of this critically endangered coral species, and shows that early outplanting of sexually reared coral settlers can be more cost-effective than the traditional approach of nursery rearing for restoration efforts aimed at rehabilitating coral populations. | 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.

Recorded result

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