Elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata) Case Study

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MBZF Grant 172515461
Invertebrate

Continent: North America

Country: Bahamas

Grant Amount: $12,500

Awarded Date: July 15, 2017

Craig Dahlgren

Perry Institute for Marine Science


5356 Rt. 100, Suite 1, PO box 435

Waitsfield

VT

05673

United States

Tel: 802 496 2700

Mob: 802 989 0456

Reversing the Decline of Bahamian Coral Reefs: Bringing back elkhorn coral by increasing reproductive success

The endangered Elkhorn coral is a critical reef building species that provides habitat for marine life, supports fisheries and shelters coasts. Declines of over 90%, however, have reduced populations below reproductive a threshold, with recovery unlikely without intervention. Our project will boost reproductive success by collecting gametes during spawning, fertilizing them in the lab, and growing out larvae and juvenile corals to repopulate Bahamian reefs.

Coral Reefs throughout the Caribbean region, and indeed around the world, are in decline due to global (e.g., climate change) regional (e.g. disease outbreaks) and local (e.g., nutrient runoff and sedimentation) threats. These threats act together to drive rapid declines and the resilience or ability of corals to recover is compromised due to overfishing and other factors that have reduced populations of key species responsible for maintaining the balance of coral reef ecosystems, as well as the fact that many corals may be reduced below thresholds required for reproductive success. In The Bahamas we have launched a 10-year, multi-partner program called Reversing The Decline of Bahamian Coral Reefs. Within this program, specific strategies are being implemented to reduce threats to corals, build reef resilience, and actively restore populations to facilitate the recovery of key species like the endangered Elkhorn coral, Acropora palmata.  As part of this program, our project will address key issues related to the recovery of the Elkhorn coral by implementing new advances in restoration using sexual reproduction.  Specifically, support from the MBZ Species Conservation Fund will allow us to (1) identify spawning populations of Elkhorn coral in key areas, (2) capture gametes from selected colonies, fertilize eggs using selective crosses, and grow out larvae to settlement on up to 5,000 settlement substrates, (3) repopulate reefs with settlement substrates to increase the genetic diversity and number of spawning colonies, (4) evaluate success of these initial efforts to scale up our efforts to as many as 100,000 substrates within 3 years.

MBZF Grant 172515461 - located in Bahamas, North America