11th ICRS Abstract book - Nova Southeastern University

24-13
Using Reef Resilience Principles To Improve Staghorn Coral (Acropora
Cervicornis) Restoration in The Florida Keys
Meaghan JOHNSON* 1 , Phil KRAMER 1 , Ken NEDIMYER 2
1 The Nature Conservancy, Summerland Key, FL, 2 Healthy Reefs Inc., Tavernier Key, FL
Significant declines in living coral coverage within the Florida Keys National Marine
Sanctuary (and worldwide) have occurred in recent decades due to local, regional, and
global threats. In particular, populations of the important reef building branching
staghorn coral, Acropora cervicornis, have declined 80-90% throughout the Caribbean
and western Atlantic since the late 1980’s, and has recently been listed as threatened
under the Endangered Species Act in May 2006. This project aims to restore degraded
reefs in the Upper Keys by transplanting fragments of naturally occurring, and wild
staghorn coral. Approximately 25 staghorn coral colonies naturally settled onto a
privately owned live rock farm within Sanctuary waters in the Upper Keys. In addition to
these 25 parent colonies, 22 wild colonies were collected, fragmented, and brought back
to the live rock farm (coral nursery). All of these colonies were fragmented, and
cemented to small cement casts, that remain on platforms within the coral nursery. The
genotypic identity of these corals was also determined within the first six months. This
genetic marker will serve as a tool that allows for long term tracking of recruitment and
proliferation. In November 2006, these fragments were outplanted to four different
restorations sites, located within different reefs zones determined by the Florida Reef
Resilience Program. These restoration sites will be monitored for coral growth rates,
mortality, and the recolonization of reef-dwelling organisms. We expect to create a
series of localized staghorn thickets following the rapid growth and expansion of the
transplanted fragments. This project has now been expanded to three more sub-regions(
Lower Keys, Miami transition, Broward), with future plans to expand to the Caribbean
region.
24-14
Coral Recovery And Rehabilitation From Blast Fishing in Indonesian Rubble Fields
Helen FOX* 1 , Roy CALDWELL 2 , Sangeeta MANGUBHAI 3
1 Conservation Science, World Wildlife Fund-US, Washington, DC, 2 University of
California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 3 P.T. Putri Naga Komodo, Labuan Bajo, Indonesia
Although fishing with explosives (dynamite or homemade bombs) continues to impact
reefs throughout Indonesia and beyond, there are success stories where blasting has been
halted and the surviving reefs protected, such as in Komodo National Park. Here, we
report results of long-term research (10 y) examining natural recovery from blast fishing
and the efficacy of rock piles as a low-tech, locally-available reef rehabilitation method.
Comparative studies in North Sulawesi of acute single blasts of known age showed that
this rubble slowly stabilized, and craters filled in with surrounding coral and new
colonies. After five years, coral cover within craters no longer differed significantly from
control plots. In contrast, the large rubble fields created by chronic blasting in Komodo
remain devoid of corals despite adequate supply of coral larvae, with no appreciable
natural recovery over 10 years, hence the need for rehabilitation research. After pilot
studies of different methodologies (1998-2002), locally quarried rocks were chosen to
scale up. In 2002, four different configurations of rock piles were installed at four sites,
covering ~6000m 2 total. Rock piles stabilize the rubble, attenuate water currents, recreate
the three-dimensional structure of an intact reef, and provide surfaces for coral
recruitment and refuges for other invertebrates and fish. Coral recruitment was
considerable and coral colonies grew at the rate of 15-20 cm/year at some sites, but
rubble encroachment remains a problem at the highest current sites. Thus, this
rehabilitation method is feasible at these scales at lower cost than most, although this
work highlights the need for comparative studies. Furthermore, it would likely be
cheaper and more efficient to prevent the damage in the first place.
Oral Mini-Symposium 24: Reef Restoration
24-15
Lessons for Minimizing Impacts to Coral Reef and Other Ecosystems from the 2004
Tsunami
Dwayne MEADOWS* 1
1 Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service, Silver Spring, MD
The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami left a vast amount of destruction in its wake on land and in the
sea. About 60% of coral reefs in affected areas of Thailand were damaged. Many damaged
reef areas in Thailand and Sri Lanka were high value tourist attractions or provided other
important ecosystem goods and services. We were part of a fortuitous partnership of people
with experience in reef restoration, coral reef science, marine debris removal, construction,
professional SCUBA diving, business, marketing, and environmental NGOs. We helped
organize and funded multiple restoration and cleanup projects that restored damaged and
detached sea fans in Similan Islands Marine National Park, restored hard corals, removed over
400 tons of marine debris, and provided sustainable management advice to local stakeholders
and decision-makers. We later became involved in advising emergency management agencies
on tsunami preparedness and response. We report on lessons learned for re-attachment of large
sea fans, triaging and organizing large-scale volunteer marine debris recovery and coral
ecosystem restoration efforts, and mitigating and planning for future natural disaster impacts on
fishery ecosystems. We argue that "natural" disasters can cause significant damage to reefs,
and much damage results from human sources that are not "natural" and can be mitigated or
prevented (such as siting and land use decisions that lead to debris affecting reefs). Thus we
disagree with those who say natural events like hurricanes or tsunamis "are not appropriate for
reef restoration". Further, governments need to recognize the economic and inherent values of
ecosystem goods and services in natural disaster response legislation and policies (e.g., The
Stafford Act in the U.S.) to improve outcomes. We also argue that ecosystem advocates need to
adopt the language of emergency management and become more involved in emergency
management disaster planning.
24-16
Sea Fan Recovery after the Tsunami 2004 at Mu Ko Similan National Park, Andaman
Sea, Thailand
Sakanan PLATHONG* 1 , Charles BENZIES 1 , Fumihito IWASE 2
1 Coral Reef and Benthos Research Unit, Department of Biology, Prince of Songkla University,
Hat Yai, Songkla, Thailand, 2 Kuroshio Biological Research Foundation, Tokyo, Japan
At the Similan Islands, Thailand, one of the biggest impacts from the tsunami was on the
gorgonian sea fan where approximately 250 individual colonies were found to have fallen from
their substrate. As part of the reef recovery efforts following the tsunami, a project aimed at sea
fan reattachment was launched in January 2005 and continued through the year. Many fallen sea
fan colonies were lying on the sea floor for 2 weeks - 4 months, where they suffered tissue
damage. Initially the sea fans were temporarily supported in the flowing current to enable
feeding while methods of permanent reattachment were investigated. Fallen sea fans were
reattached using a variety of methods. One hundred sixty four colonies were cemented to a rock
substrate aboard a boat and then replaced by divers back in the floor. Wooden wedges were
used to hold 54 sea fans into cracks in the rock substrate. Iron rods hammered into the sand,
rocks placed at the base of the sea fan and cable ties were also used to support sea fans
temporarily. Many large sea fans had to be cut into segments to make them more manageable.
In total, about 450 whole sea fans or colony fragments have been recovered and reattached.
Recovered sea fans showed a high occurrence of infected tissue due to an unknown microbial
infection, often resulting in severe or total tissue loss and death of the colony. The infection,
characterised by white matter spreading rapidly over the axial skeleton, was shown to be
Aspergillosis. As of February 2006, about 80% of recovered sea fans found and about 50% of
the total number of colonies recovered has survived.
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