By Sharin Hussain via SWNS
Threatened coral reefs can make a full recovery within four years following a ‘coral transplant’, according to a new study.
Researchers say that the efforts to restore coral reefs will not only increase coral cover but can bring back important ecosystem functions.
They described the speed of recovery as “incredible”.
Dr. Ines Lange, of Exeter University, said: “We found that restored coral reefs can grow at the same speed as healthy coral reefs just four years after coral transplantation.
“This means that they provide lots of habitat for marine life and efficiently protect the adjacent island from wave energy and erosion.
“The speed of recovery that we saw was incredible.
“We did not expect a full recovery of reef framework production after only four years.”
The study was conducted in the Mars Coral Reef Restoration Program in South Sulawesi, Indonesia, one of the largest restoration projects in the world.
The research, published in the journal Current Biology, relied on transplanting corals and adding substrate to restore reefs badly damaged by blast fishing 30 or 40 years ago.
The reefs had shown no signs of recovering due to the presence of loose coral rubble that prevents young coral larvae from surviving.
The restoration effort has added a continuous network of sand-coated steel structures to consolidate the rubble and offer a structure for transplanting coral fragments.
The researchers measured the carbonate budgets of 12 sites that had been restored at different times, up to four years ago.
Dr. Lange added: “Corals constantly add calcium carbonate to the reef framework while some fishes and sea urchins erode it away, so calculating the overall carbonate budget basically tells you if the reef as a whole is growing or shrinking.
“Positive reef growth is important to keep up with sea-level rise, protect coastlines from storms and erosion, and provide habitat for reef animals.”
The data shows that the rapid growth of transplanted corals supports the recovery of coral cover and carbonate production.
The net carbonate budget had tripled in four years, with branched corals doing particularly well.
The researchers say differences “may affect habitat provision for some marine species and resilience to future heatwaves, as branching corals are more sensitive to bleaching.”
The findings show that active management actions can help to boost the resilience of reefs and bring back important ecosystem functions that are critical for marine life and local communities, quickly.
Dr. Lange said: “As is so often the case, there is no one-size-fits-all solution, but we hope that this positive example can be used as inspiration for other reef restoration projects around the world.”
Over time, restored reefs will naturally recruit a more diverse mix of coral species.
Co-author, Tim Lamont added: “These results give us the encouragement that if we can rapidly reduce emissions and stabilize the climate, we have effective tools to help regrow functioning coral reefs.”
