University Of Miami Reef Coral Rehabilitation Project: Land-Based Propagation Facility for Ecologically important Reef Corals; Final Report
Capo TR and Carter RW. 2002. University Of Miami Reef Coral Rehabilitation Project: Land-Based Propagation Facility for Ecologically important Reef Corals; Final Report. Biscayne National Park. University of Miami
Coral reef degradation is a worldwide phenomenon. Catastrophic natural events such as coral bleaching and increased prevalence of disease combine with man-made disturbances such as increased siltation, the harvesting of corals for the aquarium trade, and an increased frequency of ship groundings to produce a global problem. Pressures like these have impacted the Florida Keys with loss of coral cover and decreases in overall reef health. The purpose of this project was to assess the effectiveness of two different coral nurseries as a means of providing replacement corals for damaged reef areas and to introduce several new methods for successful coral culture. In June of 1999, colonies of Montastraea faveolata were collected at the site of a boat grounding in Biscayne National Park. In February of 2002, six donor colonies were retrieved and cut into 2 em square fragments. Each piece was fitted with an electronic PIT tag and affixed to a PVC post. One-half of the new fragments were left in situ. The other half were brought to a shore-based coral nursery at the University of Miami Experimental Fish Hatchery. Growth was monitored periodically. After nine months, both field-deployed and laboratory corals demonstrated healthy growth but the laboratory corals were growing at a significantly faster rate. These results indicate that environmental parameters in shore-based coral growing facilities can be adjusted to the point that corals grow as fast or faster than those in the wild. Also, shore-based facilities can be used to nurture damaged corals through critical healing stages before their re-deployment to the affected area.
- Type
- Unpublished Report
- Authors
- Capo, Thomas; Carter, Robert
- Date of Issue
- 2002-08-31
- Publisher
- Biscayne National Park
- Units
- BISC
- Keywords
- aquarium trade, Biscayne National Park, Coral Aquaculture Program (CAP), coral degeneration, coral destruction, coral nurseries, damaged coral, fish hatchery, Florida Keys, Monitoring, reef restoration