Global declines of coral reefs — particularly in the Caribbean — have spurred efforts to grow corals in underwater nurseries and transplant them to enable recovery. However, current approaches rarely incorporate the key ecological reef processes critical to facilitating restoration and improving the odds of success.
Global declines of coral reefs — particularly in the Caribbean — have spurred efforts to grow corals in underwater nurseries and transplant them to enable recovery. However, current approaches rarely incorporate the key ecological reef processes critical to facilitating restoration and improving the odds of success.
In a new paper published in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, UC Santa Barbara scientists and their colleagues advocate for the integration of essential natural processes to exploit dynamic ecological forces and drive recovery of coral reef ecosystems. Using existing scientific literature coupled with original research they outline a scientific framework aimed at advancing the emerging field of coral restoration.
“We don’t have a lot of science to guide how we actually conduct coral restoration,” said co-author Deron Burkepile, an associate professor in UCSB’s Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology (EEMB). “The next phase of coral restoration must focus on harnessing ecological processes that drive community dynamics on coral reefs to help facilitate the establishment and growth of restored corals.”
Read more at University of California - Santa Barbara
Photo: A juvenile blue tang swims amid staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornis). Photo Credit: MARK LADD
