Australian marine biologists have developed a promising way to breathe new life into patches of damaged coral reefs.
Rehabilitating reefs hit hard by climate change, pollution, human activities, or predator infestations traditionally has been at the whim of Mother Nature. Marine biologists at the Australian Institute of Marine Science in Fremantle wondered if they could help her along by "reseeding" damaged reefs with millions of coral embryos.
In a pilot study, they scooped up bucketfuls of embryos after a 1997 mass spawning event in Coral Bay, off Western Australia. They then deposited the tiny embryos into floating pools moored over a damaged reef. When the embryos matured, the team pumped them onto tiles on the seabed, which could be easily monitored and defended from predators with mesh tents. In a forthcoming paper in Marine Ecology Progress, they report that roughly 23,600 new corals per square meter settled permanently, compared to a natural rate of about 27 per square meter.
Bette Willis, a marine biologist at James Cook University in Townsville, says the "innovative" technique could eventually help managers restore reefs that once attracted schools of fish--and throngs of tourists.
