The Coralassist Plug: overcoming mortality bottlenecks for coral IVF and reef restoration
Lead Research Organisation:
Newcastle University
Department Name: Sch of Natural & Environmental Sciences
Abstract
Coral reefs provide goods and services worth billions of dollars, yet they are extremely vulnerable to the effects of climate change. As
a result, there is now a major research and conservation focus on restoring damaged reefs and actively assisting corals to adapt to
climate change via assisted evolution. Research driven by the PI over the last decade has shown that one of the most promising
techniques for reef rehabilitation and assisted evolution involves rearing and outplanting sexually propagated corals. However, this
approach is constrained by labour intensive methods and low survival rates. The results in coral larval propagation methods being
prohibitively expensive and limited to small scales (10's to hundreds of square metres). Therefore, while we can produce large
numbers of sexually propagated for reef rehabilitation and assisted evolution in the laboratory or in nurseries, we need to develop
more efficient ways of outplanting corals to the reef. To overcome these bottlenecks, we have developed an innovative technique
(the Coralassist Plug) for transplanting juvenile corals that is designed to a) improve handling efficiency during coral sexual
propagation, b) avoid the need for a lengthy nursery rearing period, c) improve efficiency and time to outplant corals to the reef and
d) increase early survivorship after outplantation by protecting corals from grazing pressure. In pilot trials, the Coralassist Plug has
proven to be much faster to outplant and to dramatically improve survivorship of IVF produced corals. This project aims to provide
wider proof of concept testing with a range of stakeholders, to fine-tune the design to increase its effectiveness, and to create a
business model to provide the Coralassist Plug to reef restoration practitioners as a tool for coral reef conservation.
a result, there is now a major research and conservation focus on restoring damaged reefs and actively assisting corals to adapt to
climate change via assisted evolution. Research driven by the PI over the last decade has shown that one of the most promising
techniques for reef rehabilitation and assisted evolution involves rearing and outplanting sexually propagated corals. However, this
approach is constrained by labour intensive methods and low survival rates. The results in coral larval propagation methods being
prohibitively expensive and limited to small scales (10's to hundreds of square metres). Therefore, while we can produce large
numbers of sexually propagated for reef rehabilitation and assisted evolution in the laboratory or in nurseries, we need to develop
more efficient ways of outplanting corals to the reef. To overcome these bottlenecks, we have developed an innovative technique
(the Coralassist Plug) for transplanting juvenile corals that is designed to a) improve handling efficiency during coral sexual
propagation, b) avoid the need for a lengthy nursery rearing period, c) improve efficiency and time to outplant corals to the reef and
d) increase early survivorship after outplantation by protecting corals from grazing pressure. In pilot trials, the Coralassist Plug has
proven to be much faster to outplant and to dramatically improve survivorship of IVF produced corals. This project aims to provide
wider proof of concept testing with a range of stakeholders, to fine-tune the design to increase its effectiveness, and to create a
business model to provide the Coralassist Plug to reef restoration practitioners as a tool for coral reef conservation.
Organisations
Publications
Van Der Steeg E
(2024)
Excluding Large Grazers Dramatically Improves Survival of Outplanted Juvenile Corals
| Description | Sexual coral propagation is an emerging technique designed to produce large numbers of genetically diverse corals for the purpose of reef restoration. In contrast to coral fragmentation, sexual reproduction maintains the genetic diversity of outplants and can be used for selective breeding to enhance coral heat tolerance. However, early post-settlement and outplant mortality, nursery rearing time, labour-intensive outplantation and associated costs remain severe bottlenecks hindering implementation at meaningful ecological scales. Here, we develop and field test a device for settling, rearing and outplanting corals to overcome these issues. The Coralassist Plug (CAP) is a ceramic device designed for the rapid and cost-effective outplanting of sexually propagated corals in large numbers that maximises post-outplant survivorship. It has three main innovations: 1) built-in micro-refugia to protect juvenile corals from grazing, 2) a relatively small size, 3 by 1 cm, that is easy to handle and stacked efficiently without compromising the survivorship of corals, and 3) a hole in the middle allowing quick and efficient attachment to the reef with a masonry plug, nail or Coralclip®. This allows a three-person dive team to outplant ~120 CAPs in one 90-minute shallow dive. CAPs were settled with Acropora digitifera and outplanted to a reef crest from one to six months later. A high yield was achieved, with up to 60% CAPs containing at least one live coral after two years. Corals reached a mean area of 9.2 ± 0.5 cm2 and the retention rate was 88.8 ± 1.5 %. By upscaling this method to using 10,000 CAPs, the costs of a 1- and 2-year-old live coral on the reef were estimated to be as low as $7.3 and $8.7, respectively. CAPs can play a meaningful role in reef restoration by efficiently introducing sexually reared corals with high genotypic diversity into natural populations with application to assisted evolution techniques. |
| Exploitation Route | We anticpate that the Coralassist Plug (CAPs) will become a valuable tool in the developement of coral sexual propagation for the purpose of reef restoration. CAPs are already being tested in Australia, Saudi Arabia, Palau, the Philippines and the Caribbean as part of resaech and development in collaboration with Universities and NGOs. |
| Sectors | Environment |
| URL | https://www.coralassistlab.com/ |
| Description | The Coralassist Plug is currently being used as part of developement by a variety of organistaions to develop effective reef restoartion methods (e.g., KAUST Suadi Arabia, SECORE International, Palau International Coral Reef Center, University of the Philippines). |
| First Year Of Impact | 2023 |
| Sector | Environment |