[Coral-List] New paper: Harnessing ecological processes to facilitate coral restoration

Mark Ladd markcladd at gmail.com
Wed Apr 18 10:17:37 EDT 2018


Hello everyone,

We are excited to share with you our recent publication in *Frontiers in
Ecology and the Environment* focused on incorporating ecological processes
into coral restoration. We propose coral restoration efforts transition
towards putting more emphasis on incorporating and utilizing important
ecological processes on coral reefs, such as herbivory and fish-derived
nutrients, to make coral restoration more successful. Included in the paper
is a survey of Caribbean coral restoration practitioners and their
priorities for selecting where to outplant corals, as well as a review of
coral restoration studies from 1987-2017.

We welcome your questions and any feedback regarding the ideas put forth in
the paper.

Best,

Mark

The early view of the paper is open access and can be downloaded here
https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/fee.1792.

*Harnessing ecological processes to facilitate coral restoration*

*Abstract:*

*Incorporating ecological processes into restoration planning is
increasingly recognized as a fundamental component of successful
restoration strategies. We outline a scientific framework to advance the
emerging field of coral restoration. We advocate for harnessing ecological
processes that drive community dynamics on coral reefs in a way that
facilitates the establishment and growth of restored corals. Drawing on
decades of coral reef ecology research and lessons learned from the
restoration of other ecosystems, we posit that restoration practitioners
can control factors such as the density, diversity, and identity of
transplanted corals; site selection; and transplant design to restore
positive feedback processes – or to disrupt negative feedback processes –
in order to improve restoration success. Ultimately, we argue that coral
restoration should explicitly incorporate key natural processes to exploit
dynamic ecological forces and drive recovery of coral reef ecosystems.*


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Mark Ladd
PhD Candidate
Ecology, Evolution & Marine Biology
University of California, Santa Barbara
UCSB Moorea Coral Reef LTER Graduate Student Representative


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