11th ICRS Abstract book - Nova Southeastern University

24-5
How Quickly Do Coral-Fragments Of Different Species ‘self-Attach’ After
Transplantation?
James GUEST* 1 , Rommi DIZON 2 , Chiara FRANCO 3 , Alasdair EDWARDS 1 , Edgardo
GOMEZ 2
1 School of Biology, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom,
2 Marine Science Institute, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Philippines,
3 Department of Marine Science and Technology, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon
Tyne, United Kingdom
Although corals regularly undergo colony fragmentation, mortality of unattached coral
fragments can be high. Consequently the speed at which fragments ‘self-attach’ to
substrata is likely to be critical to survival. During reef restoration interventions, coral
transplants are often attached using epoxy or other adhesives, however self-attachment by
growth of coral tissue onto the substrate is likely to provide a more secure and lasting
bond. While it is known that coral fragments can generate new tissue to bond to the
substratum within a few weeks of transplantation, surprisingly little is known about the
speed of self-attachment. In this study, self-attachment times as well as growth rates and
survival of transplanted fragments from thirteen coral species on replicated calcium
carbonate substrata were examined experimentally in north-western Philippines. Two
independent experiments were carried out. The first examined self-attachment, growth
rates and survival in eleven species from different families representing a range of
morphologies over approximately two years, whereas the second examined selfattachment
times of three fast-attaching Acropora species in detail over one month. In the
first experiment, Acropora muricata was significantly faster to self-attach (median time
39 days) compared to all other species, while Echinopora lamellosa was slowest to selfattach
(median time 167 days) and was significantly slower than all other species except
Porites lutea and Pavona frondifera. In the second experiment, A. muricata (branching)
was significantly slower (median time 24 days) than A. hyacinthus (tabular) and A.
digitifera (digitate)(median time 16 days). Results reveal that Acropora species have
significantly faster attachment times than the other coral taxa studied. However branching
Acropora species - which tend to fragment more frequently - do not necessarily have
faster self-attachment times than other morphologies.
24-6
Restoration Of Threatened Acropora Cervicornis Corals: Clone As A Factor in
Mortality, Growth, Branching, And Self-Attachment
Austin BOWDEN-KERBY* 1
1 Counterpart International, Suva, Fiji
The potential of farming Acropora cervicornis corals to restore this threatened species to
Caribbean reefs was investigated, with particular emphasis on genetic factors relating to
the relative success of culture methods. Clones from both high and low energy areas
were sampled, to determine the relative importance of intraspecific variability and source
environment on experimental outcomes. Corals were sampled from eight isolated
Acropora cervicornis populations; thirty 10cm coral fragments obtained from each. Half
of the samples were obtained from reef front coral thickets, and half were obtained from
back reef areas. Fragments were attached to wire frames using colored ties to distinguish
between clones, six branches per clone per frame. Sites were located in shallow back
reef areas