The Use of Forest Restoration Techniques in the Restoration of Coral Reefs

Abstract

Coral gardening is a tool useful in restoring coral reefs and is comparable to silviculture through source material, location, type, choice of species and outcome (Table 1). For both trees and corals, resource requirements are similar and include inorganic substances, light, and space [2]. Key criteria for both forest and coral reef restoration include promotion of asexual and sexual reproduction, allowing restored systems to maintain themselves. Asexual culture of corals has great potential in reef restoration in a similar way to how silviculture in land-based nurseries supports forest reforestation projects [3]. For forests, ramets, seeds, and seedlings are used; for reefs, ramets, nubbins, planulae, larvae, and spat are forms of source material. Locations for forest restoration projects are often located in degraded forest areas or on plantations; for reefs, coral nurseries are constructed on or adjacent to degraded reefs or established in land-based aquaculture facilities for later transplantation. Tree species are collected from mono-culture or mixed species plantations as well as natural forests and coral species are collected from marine culture of local key coral species [1].