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Effects of coral transplantation in sites of varying distances and environmental conditions

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Abstract

Several scleractinian coral species with different growth forms and life history strategies were studied in terms of colony growth (expressed as projected linear increment) and survivorship over a range of distances and environmental conditions in the Philippines. The experimental design consisted of 1 m2 plots grouped within a reef site, to several sites within reef systems separated by a distance of about 340 km. There were distinct differences among species, with submassive and massive forms displaying slower growth but better survival, confirming results of other studies. They probably play the role of framework builders of the reef. In contrast, the delicate branching and foliose species had higher growth rates but poor survivorship. This observation, plus their ease of fragmentation, suggests they act more as fillers of the reef matrix. There was high variability in colony increment of a species among the square meter plots, but not among sites within a reef system. Thus, more regular pattern could be observed at this level. In contrast to growth, survivorship differed significantly among sites, being lowest in the site which harbored the greatest amount of dead coral. Growth and survival, however, are not sufficient performance measures to evaluate the success of coral transplantation. Reproduction and subsequent recruitment must also be taken into account. It is recommended that coral transplant and restoration studies consider the broad environmental context of restoration and seek to develop assembly rules that will allow practitioners to match coral types and sequence of interventions to each unique context.

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Acknowledgements

This study would not have been possible without the tremendous help, particularly with the field work and data encoding, of the following: A. Rex Montebon, Marlowe Sabater, Alexander Reyes, Romeo Dizon and Rosita Baua. Financial support was provided by the Bureau of Agricultural Research of the Department of Agriculture, Republic of the Philippines. The experiments described here comply with the current laws of the Republic of the Philippines where they were performed. This is contribution no. 3A of the Marine Science Institute, University of the Philippines.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Marine Science Institute, University of the Philippines, Diliman, 1101, Quezon City, Philippines

    Raymond T. Dizon & Helen T. Yap

  2. Institut de Ciencia i Tecnologia Ambientals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain

    Raymond T. Dizon

Authors
  1. Raymond T. Dizon
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  2. Helen T. Yap
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Correspondence to Helen T. Yap.

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Communicated by S. Nishida, Tokyo

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Dizon, R.T., Yap, H.T. Effects of coral transplantation in sites of varying distances and environmental conditions. Marine Biology 148, 933–943 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-005-0142-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-005-0142-y

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