Community-based, low-tech method of restoring a lost thicket of Acropora corals

Published source details dela Cruz D.W., Villanueva R.D. & Baria M.V.B. (2014) Community-based, low-tech method of restoring a lost thicket of Acropora corals. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 71, 1866-1875.
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This study is summarised as evidence for the following.

	Action	Category
	Translocate habitat-forming (biogenic) species - Translocate reef-forming corals Action Link

Translocate habitat-forming (biogenic) species - Translocate reef-forming corals

A replicated, controlled, before-and-after study in 2010–2012 of nine plots in a restored coral reef off Santiago Island, northwestern Philippines, South China Sea (dela Cruz et al. 2014) found that over the 19 months following translocation of corals, invertebrate species richness increased similarly at sites with and without translocated corals, abundance increased more at sites with than without corals, and community composition remained similar across all plots. Before translocation, all plots had similar species richness (0.3–0.5 species/plot), abundance (0.3–1.2/plot), and community composition (community data presented as graphical analyses). After 19 months, species richness had increased in all plots and was similar in plots with corals (3.0–3.3) and without (2.9). Abundance had increased in all plots but was higher in plots with corals (16–26) than without (3). Community composition remained similar in all plots after 19 months. After 19 months, 68–89% of translocated corals had survived. Increases in richness and abundance observed in plots without translocated corals were considered by authors to be due to spill-over effects from plots with translocated corals. Three clusters (50 m apart) of three plots (16 m²; 5 m apart), were used for coral reef restoration. In each cluster, staghorn corals, Acropora intermedia and Acropora pulchra, were translocated to two plots (25 fragments/species in one, 50 fragments/species in the other), and one plot was left without corals. In July 2010 (before translocation), July 2011 (12 months after translocation), and February 2012 (19 months after translocation) divers visually identified and counted invertebrates belonging to six genera (see paper for details) in all plots.

(Summarised by: Anaëlle Lemasson)