Coral Gardening - Nursery Phase — South coast of Puerto Rico

OPP-WCD35Apermanent identifier · cite as oceanportfolio.org/p/OPP-WCD35A

Published as: Scaling up Acropora nurseries in the Caribbean and improving techniques. | Technique: Coral Gardening - Nursery Phase | Disturbance addressed: Ship grounding | Genera: Acropora | Method: Damaged fragments of Acropora cervicornis were cached in nurseries during emergency restoration, and line nurseries were set up to grow additional corals for restoration. Growth rates (linear and maximum diameter) and survival of 712 colonies were monitored for one year examining the effects of genotype, depth and attachment method. | Survival of transplants reported by the source: 95.5% | Post-restoration monitoring: 12 months | Authors' conclusion: Coated wire had the lowest mortality (2.6%), and cable ties had the highest mortality (12.5%). Fragments placed at deeper depths had significantly higher growth rates than corals placed at shallower depths. Survival and growth rates also varied between genotypes. | Lessons reported: The line nurseries produced high survival and growth rates, required low maintenance and held up well during storm events. Given the decline in A. cervicornis populations in the Caribbean over the last few decades and the current focus on scaling up nurseries in the Caribbean, the results and techniques presented here are useful for the development of future nursery operations. | 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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