11th ICRS Abstract book - Nova Southeastern University

24.1059
Identifying Sediment-Tolerant Coral Taxa from LIT Data in Singapore to Aid
Decision-Making in Reef Restoration Efforts
Karenne TUN* 1,2 , Eugene GOH 2 , Loke Ming CHOU 1 , Tom FOSTER 2
1 Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore, 2 DHI
Water & Environment, Singapore, Singapore
The importance and urgency of coral reef restoration has become increasing apparent,
with the increasing global decline of coral reefs, especially in the biodiversity-rich Indo-
Pacific region. Currently, research efforts supported through Global Environment Facility
(GEF) and EU projects are aimed at identifying and testing techniques and methodologies
to aid reef restoration in areas where it is most needed. Commonly, these areas are
characterized by high sedimentation and turbidity, and are usually in close proximity to
developed or developing coastlines. In this regard, one key question that remains to be
addressed is which species/genera are tolerant to high sediment and turbidity stress, so
that they can be targeted for restoration. This paper investigates the possibility of
identifying sediment-tolerant taxa from extensive coral reef monitoring data of reef areas
exposed to sediment stress. Our aim is to develop a list of hard coral genera with distinct
or overlapping sediment tolerance ranges.
24.1060
Staghorn Coral (acropora Cervicornis)restoration Offshore Southeast Florida
Using Resilience Principles
Elizabeth GOERGEN* 1 , Meaghan JOHNSON 2 , David GILLIAM 1
1 National Coral Reef Institute, Nova Southeastern University Oceanographic Center,
Dania Beach, FL, 2 The Nature Conservancy of the Florida Keys, Summerland Key, FL
As part of a larger project initiated by The Nature Conservancy, NCRI (Broward County,
southeast Florida) is working collaboratively with Mote Marine Laboratory and Sea Life,
Inc (Florida Keys) and the University of Miami (Biscayne National Park) to examine
potential Acropora cervicornis restoration techniques along the entire Florida reef tract.
Offshore SE Florida, scattered colonies and larger patches of A. cervicornis are present
on the nearshore ridge and inner reefs. For this project 13 colonies separated by as much
as 27km were identified, assessed, photographed, and tagged. Two small (