Caribbean Acropora Restoration Guide - The Florida Reef ...

Chapter 4 | Case Studies
Coral Collections
• Fragments were collected from healthy wild colonies. When possible, naturally broken corals from
these wild colonies were chosen.
Nursery Operations and Maintenance
• Regular cleaning – algae.
• Size monitoring every two months.
• Because of the materials chosen, there is no need to change degraded materials.
• The nursery was initially deployed in three different reef areas. Survivorship results indicated the best
site, where 100 more concrete blocks are planned to be deployed.
• The inland nursery requires more attention for cleaning, feeding and monitoring for disease.
The main purpose of this nursery is to evaluate if it is possible to accelerate growth with more food
(Artemia nauplii).
Outplanting
• 60 corals from the inland nursery were attached to a concrete block at the in-water nursery after 11
months in aquarium conditions (July 2011).
• Outplanting from the in-water nurseries is scheduled for Fall 2011.
• Outplanting sites are located in Isla Mujeres Bay, near two of the nurseries.
• Both sites selected for the outplanting were impacted earlier by boat groundings.
• Acropora colonies are already present at both sites.
Lessons Learned
Collect healthy corals. Survivorship of corals that were collected from the bottom was not as high. Although they
were naturally broken, they may not have been healthy enough to support further fragmentation.
Evaluate your options. Several designs were used during outplanting to attach the corals, but the best used PVC
connectors, which can be screwed on or out easily.
Spread your risk. Nurseries were placed in different areas of the reef. One nursery was located near the reef crest,
which was thought to be a good area. This nursery had less than 70% survivorship. This was likely due to poor
water quality, since patches of yellow turf algae were seen around the site.
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