Technical Area 2: Ecosystem Engineering

GET STARTED
1
Request Info
2
Visit
3
Apply
cores table cores table
colonies colonies
coral tree fish coral tree fish

Objective: Increase accretion of corals and allies by decreasing competition, fostering recruitment, and direct outplanting

 Technical Area Lead: Dr. Margaret Miller (SECORE International)

Asexual coral propagation

Source adult colonies with desired characteristics such as thermotolerance, disease resistance, and/or rapid growth, propagate them in nurseries, and outplant to structures:

  • Test the phenotypic traits of existing stocks and new wild collections in controlled lab experiments to select the most resilient corals for deployment
  • Establish new coral nurseries in challenging, shallow, nearshore environments to screen for genotypes that perform well in these habitats
  • Propagate and outplant colonies representing a diverse range of species, morphologies (i.e., branching, massive) and genotypes to X-REEFS structure

Lead: University of Miami (Diego Lirman)

 

Assisted recruitment

Increase the number of corals recruiting to the structure:

  • Test delivery methods for known and new chemical and/or bacterial coral settlement cues, and apply them to the structure to enhance passive settlement
  • Develop a coating that encapsulates live coral larvae in a hydrogel matrix that can adhere directly to the structure's surface for targeted settlement
  • Actively produce coral recruits through in situ and ex situ spawning, assisted fertilization, larval rearing, and settlement for eventual deployment on engineered structure

Leads: Smithsonian Marine Station (Jennifer Sneed), Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (Jenny Boothby), SECORE International (Margaret Miller), Florida Aquarium (Keri O'Neil)

 

Community enhancement

Develop a thriving benthic community that enhances the durability, resilience, and wave attenuating properties of the engineered structure: 

  • Culture invertebrate herbivores (i.e., gastropods, urchins) add them to the structure to control macroalgal growth
  • Promote crustose coralline algae growth to enhance coral settlement and block competitors
  • Synthesize and apply crosslinked polymer coatings containing quaternary ammonium salts to substrates to hinder algal attachment and colonization
  • Develop means of elevating alkalinity (HCO3- and CO32-) in the diffusive boundary layer to enhance coral larval settlement success and post-settlement survival and calcification 

Leads: SECORE International (Margaret Miller), Texas A & M University (Taylor Ware), University of Miami (Chris Langdon), University of Florida (Joshua Patterson), Florida Aquarium (Keri O'Neil)

Top