11th ICRS Abstract book - Nova Southeastern University

24-17
Coral Community Restorations Following Vessel Groundings in Broward County,
Florida: A Review Of Efforts And Future Needs
Bruce GRAHAM 1 , Erin HODEL* 1 , Anne MCCARTHY 1
1 CSA International, Inc., Stuart, FL
Frequent vessel groundings have impacted coral communities offshore Broward County,
Florida, causing structural and biological impacts of variable severity and areal extent.
To accelerate natural recovery processes of damaged habitat, CSA International, Inc.
(CSA) has conducted restoration following six of these groundings. Restoration included
reattachment of displaced and fractured biota, re-establishment of structural complexity,
rubble stabilization, and removal of material that may impede natural recovery. In total,
over 2,000 scleractinian corals, gorgonians, and sponges were reattached, and
approximately 147 tons of rubble were stabilized to restore the three-dimensionality of
the habitat. Post-restoration monitoring has only been conducted at several restoration
sites. CSA conducted monitoring of re-attached coral colonies, coral recruitment, and
other epibenthos at multiple-year intervals after restoration of the M/V Firat grounding.
Monitoring of epibenthos and ichthyofauna was performed 6 months after restoration of
the M/V Eastwind grounding. Together, these data indicate high survivorship of
reattached biota (≥90%), successful recruitment of corals and other epibenthos to restored
substrates, and re-established abundances of reef fishes. Furthermore, CSA has tagged
and mapped over 1,000 biotal specimens and conducted baseline biological surveys from
the six restoration sites to facilitate potential monitoring. Future monitoring of biotal
reattachment success and health, coral recruitment and survivorship, succession of
epibenthos, and reef-fish assemblages at these restoration sites would greatly benefit
evaluation of their long-term success. These restorations offer a unique opportunity to
examine biotal succession and recovery times of coral communities following vessel
groundings in southeast Florida. CSA is currently seeking means to continue monitoring
these restoration sites to evaluate their long-term success and gather data to support
future decision-making about restoration actions and inputs into Habitat Equivalency
Analyses, an important tool in determining lost ecological services.
24-18
Large Coral Transplantation in Bal Haf (Yemen): An Opportunity To Save Corals
During The Construction Of A Liquiefied Natural Gas Plant Using Innovative
Techniques
Olivier LE BRUN* 1 , Eric DUTRIEUX 2 , Fannie SEGUIN 3 , Robert HIRST 4 , Ibrahim
AL-THARY 4,5
1 CREOCEAN, LA SEYNE SUR MER, France, 2 CREOCEAN, Montpellier, France,
3 CREOCEAN, St Pierre d'Oléron, France, 4 Yemen Lng Company, Sana'a, Yemen,
5 Yemen Lng Company, St Pierre d'Oléron, Yemen
As part of a mitigation measure associated with the construction of a Liquiefied Natural
Gas (LNG) plant, four large coral transplantation missions were carried out in Bal Haf
(South of Yemen), About 1,500 selected coral colonies were removed from four areas to
be damaged with a surface area of 900, 2,700 and 3,500 m2.respectively. The coral
colonies were transported and cemented in five new sites of 300 to more than 500 m2
surface area. They belong to more than 40 species and 23 genera, with a dominance of
massive forms such as Platygyra daedalea, Porites lobata-lutea, Favites sp and
Echinopora lamellosa.
These transplantations included moving 130 large Porites lutea-lobata weighing from
200 kg up to 4 tonnes, using new transplantation techniques.
Growth, in situ mortality and health condition of the transplants were monitored over
nine months on a quarterly basis and will be followed for another 2 years at least. Photo
quadrats, close up pictures of single remarkable colonies and growth measurements for
Acropora species and a selection of large Porites were carried out during each of the
three operations.
Overall survival of corals nine months after transplantation was an encouraging 95%.
Most losses of transplants were due to sedimentation of fine particles in the transplanted
areas, fish predation, fishermen activity and hydrodynamic effects. Evidence of new
growth was observed, especially on Acropora species, Porites lobata-lutea and, to a
lesser extent, on some faviids.
These transplantations carried out on a large scale clearly demonstrate the capacity of
corals to adapt to a new environment, in favourable conditions. They prove that carefully
designed coral reef rehabilitation strategies can be part of industrial development
processes, whenever necessary.
Oral Mini-Symposium 24: Reef Restoration
24-19
Coral Relocation For Impact Mitigation in Northern Qatar
Deborah KILBANE* 1 , Bruce GRAHAM 1 , Robert MULCAHY 1 , Dr. Ali ONDER 2 , Mark
PRATT 2
1 CSA International, Inc., Stuart, FL, 2 Safety, Health, Environmental, & Risk Management,
Qatar Liquefied Gas Company Ltd., Doha, Qatar
A large-scale, long-distance coral relocation project was conducted as mitigation for potential
impacts to hard coral habitat associated with marine construction activities offshore Ras Laffan
Industrial City, Qatar. Working under the guidance of the Supreme Council for the
Environment and Natural Reserves, Qatargas Operating Company Limited and its Expansion
Projects engaged in a project to transplant over 4,500 corals from proposed pipeline corridors.
Corals were transported 46 km from the north coast of Qatar to a fasht coral habitat along the
east coast. This project represents an option for off-site mitigation and is an excellent example
of proactive environmental regulation, corporate responsibility, and advanced field technology
applied in concert to reduce impacts to a viable hard coral habitat.
Hard coral relocation, which salvages and utilizes hard corals to accelerate natural coral habitat
recovery in other areas, was implemented to reduce impacts associated with pipeline
construction activities. Proven techniques for coral reattachment and newly developed methods
designed to enhance coral survival were used for the efficient mass recovery, transport, and
deployment of the corals. The relocation site was selected from 7 candidate sites based on local
stakeholder consultation, the presence of an existing coral population, relative similarity of
physical characteristics to the impacted area, and availability of suitable substrate for coral
reattachment. Hard corals were transported in a specially designed, flow-through seawater
holding pool during the single day transit to the relocation site and reattached using concrete.
Within the reattachment site, temperature data loggers were deployed and approximately 5% of
the reattached corals and control corals were selected and uniquely tagged for subsequent
monitoring. Initial monitoring indicated high survival rates and habitat enhancement based on
assessment of coral, epibiota, fish, and urchin populations. Future long-term monitoring will
provide information on coral community dynamics in the Arabian Gulf.
24-20
Lessons Learnt From Applied Restoration Projects
Sandrine JOB* 1
1 Reef Restoration, CRISP, Noumea, New Caledonia
The talk aims at presenting some lessons learnt from 4 restoration projects that have been
conducted in the Indo-Pacific (Mayotte, New Caledonia, Fiji and Tuvalu; the 2 last projects
being conducted under the CRISP Program).
A brief overview of these projects, their objectives, methods used and general results will be
given. An analysis of what went right or wrong will lead to possible recommendations on how
the projects could be redesigned to enhance their results.
Based on this specific work, a best practices guideline for conducting applied restoration
projects will be discussed and general key instructions to follow while designing a restoration
project will be proposed. This work is currently being performed for the writing of a Manual on
Reef Restoration, a joint venture between CRTR and CRISP.
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