The Impact of Acroporidae Coral Restoration on Reef Ecology and Functionality in the Caribbean

Abstract

The Mesoamerican reef has lost almost 80% of it’s coral cover, particularly to disease and bleaching. The loss of the reef in Akumal poses a threat to wave barrier protection to a low lying and often, depleted beach, subsistence fishing and the tourism economy. The coral gardening technique was employed in 2017 using Acropora Cervicornis (A. Cervicornis), as a reef restoration effort alongside Akumal bay being made an official Marine Protected Area (MPA). Analyses from 2017 to 2018 show that the nursery instalment has caused decreases in algal cover and increases in CCA in the benthos even despite the fact the overall live coral cover had gone down, most likely a consequence of ongoing reef loss. The data finds favour in the creation of nursery sites to restore the reef, but many more years of collection and analysis will be necessary in understanding how feasible and effective this technique truly is. Tentatively, we identify Morgan’s Reef