scholarly journals Coral Reef Socio-Ecological Systems Analysis & Restoration

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 4490 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia Uribe-Castañeda ◽  
Alice Newton ◽  
Martin Le Tissier
Keyword(s):  
Coral Reef ◽  
Coral Reefs ◽  
System Analysis ◽  
Human Dimensions ◽  
Ecological Systems ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Ecological System ◽  
Reef Restoration ◽  
Restoration Strategies ◽  
Ecological Objectives

Restoration strategies for coral reefs are usually focused on the recovery of bio-physical characteristics. They seldom include an evaluation of the recovery of the socio-ecological and ecosystem services features of coral reef systems. This paper proposes a conceptual framework to address both the socio-ecological system features of coral reefs with the implementation of restoration activity for degraded coral reefs. Such a framework can lead to better societal outcomes from restoration activities while restoring bio-physical, social and ecosystem service features of such systems. We first developed a Socio Ecological System Analysis Framework, which combines the Ostrom Framework for analyzing socio-ecological systems and the Kittinger et al. human dimensions framework of coral reefs socio-ecological systems. We then constructed a Restoration of Coral Reef Framework, based on the most used and recent available coral reef restoration literature. These two frameworks were combined to present a Socio-Ecological Systems & Restoration Coral Reef Framework. These three frameworks can be used as a guide for managers, researchers and decision makers to analyze the needs of coral reef restoration in a way that addresses both socio-economic and ecological objectives to analyze, design, implement and monitor reef restoration programs.

scholarly journals Microplastic exposure interacts with habitat degradation to affect behaviour and survival of juvenile fish in the field

2020 ◽  
Vol 287 (1937) ◽  
pp. 20201947 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark I. McCormick ◽  
Douglas P. Chivers ◽  
Maud C. O. Ferrari ◽  
Makeely I. Blandford ◽  
Gerrit B. Nanninga ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Coral Reef ◽  
Management Strategy ◽  
Habitat Degradation ◽  
Synergistic Effects ◽  
Juvenile Fish ◽  
Control Fish ◽  
Dead Coral ◽  
Reef Restoration ◽  
Low Concentrations ◽  
Restoration Strategies

Coral reefs are degrading globally due to increased environmental stressors including warming and elevated levels of pollutants. These stressors affect not only habitat-forming organisms, such as corals, but they may also directly affect the organisms that inhabit these ecosystems. Here, we explore how the dual threat of habitat degradation and microplastic exposure may affect the behaviour and survival of coral reef fish in the field. Fish were caught prior to settlement and pulse-fed polystyrene microplastics six times over 4 days, then placed in the field on live or dead-degraded coral patches. Exposure to microplastics or dead coral led fish to be bolder, more active and stray further from shelter compared to control fish. Effect sizes indicated that plastic exposure had a greater effect on behaviour than degraded habitat, and we found no evidence of synergistic effects. This pattern was also displayed in their survival in the field. Our results highlight that attaining low concentrations of microplastic in the environment will be a useful management strategy, since minimizing microplastic intake by fishes may work concurrently with reef restoration strategies to enhance the resilience of coral reef populations.

scholarly journals Potential contribution of fish restocking to the recovery of deteriorated coral reefs: an alternative restoration method?

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Uri Obolski ◽  
Lilach Hadany ◽  
Avigdor Abelson
Keyword(s):  
Coral Reef ◽  
Coral Reefs ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Management Approach ◽  
Rapid Decline ◽  
Potential Contribution ◽  
Reef Management ◽  
Reef Restoration ◽  
Reef Recovery ◽  
Restoration Method

Counteracting the worldwide trend of coral reef degeneration is a major challenge for the scientific community. A crucial management approach to minimizing stress effects on healthy reefs and helping the recovery of disturbed reefs is reef protection. However, the current rapid decline of the world's reefs suggests that protection might be insufficient as a viable stand-alone management approach for some reefs. We thus suggest that the ecological restoration of coral reefs (CRR) should be considered as a valid component of coral reef management, in addition to protection, if the applied method is economically applicable and scalable. This theoretical study examines the potential applicability and outcomes of restocking grazers as a restoration tool for coral reef recovery – a tool that has not been applied so far in reef restoration projects. We studied the effect of restocking grazing fish as a restoration method using a mathematical model of degrading reefs, and analyzed the financial outcomes of the restocking intervention. The results suggest that applying this restoration method, in addition to protection, can facilitate reef recovery. Moreover, our analysis suggests that the restocking approach almost always becomes profitable within several years. Considering the relatively low cost of this restoration approach and the feasibility of mass production of herbivorous fish, we suggest that this approach should be considered and examined as an additional viable restoration tool for coral reefs.

scholarly journals Potential contribution of fish restocking to the recovery of deteriorated coral reefs: an alternative restoration method?

PeerJ ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. e1732 ◽  
Author(s):  
Uri Obolski ◽  
Lilach Hadany ◽  
Avigdor Abelson
Keyword(s):  
Coral Reef ◽  
Coral Reefs ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Management Approach ◽  
Rapid Decline ◽  
Potential Contribution ◽  
Reef Management ◽  
Reef Restoration ◽  
Reef Recovery ◽  
Restoration Method

Counteracting the worldwide trend of coral reef degeneration is a major challenge for the scientific community. A crucial management approach to minimizing stress effects on healthy reefs and helping the recovery of disturbed reefs is reef protection. However, the current rapid decline of the world’s reefs suggests that protection might be insufficient as a viable stand-alone management approach for some reefs. We thus suggest that the ecological restoration of coral reefs (CRR) should be considered as a valid component of coral reef management, in addition to protection, if the applied method is economically applicable and scalable. This theoretical study examines the potential applicability and outcomes of restocking grazers as a restoration tool for coral reef recovery—a tool that has not been applied so far in reef restoration projects. We studied the effect of restocking grazing fish as a restoration method using a mathematical model of degrading reefs, and analyzed the financial outcomes of the restocking intervention. The results suggest that applying this restoration method, in addition to protection, can facilitate reef recovery. Moreover, our analysis suggests that the restocking approach almost always becomes profitable within several years. Considering the relatively low cost of this restoration approach and the feasibility of mass production of herbivorous fish, we suggest that this approach should be considered and examined as an additional viable restoration tool for coral reefs.

scholarly journals Coral Reef Restoration using Nursery-Reared Coral Fragments in a LGU-Academe Ushered Community Project in Masbate (Philippines)

2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonino B. Mendoza, Jr. ◽  
Victor S. Soliman ◽  
Plutomeo M. Nieves ◽  
Florizel M. Lim
Keyword(s):  
Coral Reef ◽  
Coral Reefs ◽  
Private Sector ◽  
Protected Area ◽  
Marine Protected Area ◽  
Project Success ◽  
Economic Recovery ◽  
Reef Restoration ◽  
Community Project ◽  
San Fernando

With the declining state of Philippine coral reefs, the need for conservation and rehabilitation efforts are deemed crucial to sustaining ecological, biological and economic recovery in the reef system. However, there is yet a concrete and workable policy to be implemented in restoring and rehabilitating our reef areas aside from establishment of marine protected area (MPA). Here, we explored the prospects of coral restoration by demonstrating experiences in San Fernando, Masbate (Ticao Island) combined with the practices of the National Coral Restoration Program. In this project, some 20,000 coral nubbins utilizing ‘corals of opportunities’ were reared in 40 coral nursery units (CNUs) for six months and achieved 80% survival. They were then out-planted (c. 20,000 sq m) inside an MPA to ensure their protection and increase in live cover.  The fragments were attached to dead corals using epoxy or tied in concrete nails using cable ties. Four coral genera were used namely Acropora, Seriatopora, Pocillopora, and Stylophora. About 70% coral survival was achieved after two months of transplantation. Involvement of the LGU, community and the private sector is crucial to project success. Results of the transplantation indicated effectiveness and viability of the CNU system to complement coral transplantation.

scholarly journals Potential contribution of fish restocking to the recovery of deteriorated coral reefs: an alternative restoration method?

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Uri Obolski ◽  
Lilach Hadany ◽  
Avigdor Abelson
Keyword(s):  
Coral Reef ◽  
Coral Reefs ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Management Approach ◽  
Rapid Decline ◽  
Potential Contribution ◽  
Reef Management ◽  
Reef Restoration ◽  
Reef Recovery ◽  
Restoration Method

Counteracting the worldwide trend of coral reef degeneration is a major challenge for the scientific community. A crucial management approach to minimizing stress effects on healthy reefs and helping the recovery of disturbed reefs is reef protection. However, the current rapid decline of the world's reefs suggests that protection might be insufficient as a viable stand-alone management approach for some reefs. We thus suggest that the ecological restoration of coral reefs (CRR) should be considered as a valid component of coral reef management, in addition to protection, if the applied method is economically applicable and scalable. This theoretical study examines the potential applicability and outcomes of restocking grazers as a restoration tool for coral reef recovery – a tool that has not been applied so far in reef restoration projects. We studied the effect of restocking grazing fish as a restoration method using a mathematical model of degrading reefs, and analyzed the financial outcomes of the restocking intervention. The results suggest that applying this restoration method, in addition to protection, can facilitate reef recovery. Moreover, our analysis suggests that the restocking approach almost always becomes profitable within several years. Considering the relatively low cost of this restoration approach and the feasibility of mass production of herbivorous fish, we suggest that this approach should be considered and examined as an additional viable restoration tool for coral reefs.

scholarly journals Coral reef restoration efforts in Latin American countries and territories

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisa Bayraktarov ◽  
Anastazia T. Banaszak ◽  
Phanor Montoya Maya ◽  
Joanie Kleypas ◽  
Jesús E. Arias-González ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Coral Reef ◽  
Coral Reefs ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Coastal Development ◽  
Sustainable Livelihood ◽  
Project Duration ◽  
Reef Restoration ◽  
Management Interventions ◽  
Latin American Countries

AbstractCoral reefs worldwide are degrading due to climate change, overfishing, pollution, coastal development, bleaching and diseases. In areas where natural recovery is negligible or protection through management interventions insufficient, active restoration becomes critical. The Reef Futures symposium in 2018 brought together over 400 reef restoration experts, businesses, and civil organizations, and galvanized them to save coral reefs through restoration or identify alternative solutions. The symposium highlighted that solutions and discoveries from long-term and ongoing coral reef restoration projects in Spanish-speaking countries in the Caribbean and Eastern Tropical Pacific were not well known internationally. Therefore, a meeting of scientists and practitioners working in these locations was held to compile the data on the extent of coral reef restoration efforts, advances and challenges. Here, we present unpublished data from 12 coral reef restoration case studies from five Latin American countries, describe their motivations and techniques used, and provide estimates on total annual project cost per unit area of reef intervened, spatial extent as well as project duration. We found that most projects used direct transplantation, the coral gardening method, micro-fragmentation or larval propagation, and aimed to optimize or scale-up restoration approaches (51%) or provide alternative, sustainable livelihood opportunities (15%) followed by promoting coral reef conservation stewardship and re-establishing a self-sustaining, functioning reef ecosystem (both 13%). Reasons for restoring coral reefs were mainly biotic and experimental (both 42%), followed by idealistic and pragmatic motivations (both 8%). The median annual total cost from all projects was $93,000 USD (range: $10,000 USD - $331,802 USD) (2018 dollars) and intervened a median spatial area of 1 ha (range: 0.06 ha - 8.39 ha). The median project duration was 3 years; however, projects have lasted up to 17 years. Project feasibility was high with a median of 0.7 (range: 0.5 - 0.8). This study closes the knowledge gap between academia and practitioners and overcomes the language barrier by providing the first comprehensive compilation of data from ongoing coral reef restoration efforts in Latin America.

scholarly journals Human Dimensions of Coral Reef Social-Ecological Systems

2012 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
John N. Kittinger ◽  
Elena M. Finkbeiner ◽  
Edward W. Glazier ◽  
Larry B. Crowder
Keyword(s):  
Coral Reef ◽  
Human Dimensions ◽  
Ecological Systems ◽  
Social Ecological Systems ◽  
Social Ecological

scholarly journals Static Ecological System Measures

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huseyin Coskun
Keyword(s):  
System Analysis ◽  
Interspecific Interactions ◽  
Flow Distribution ◽  
Ecological Systems ◽  
Ecological System ◽  
Mathematical Framework ◽  
Activity Levels ◽  
Holistic View ◽  
Network Analyses ◽  
Comprehensive Framework

A new mathematical method for the static analysis of ecological systems has recently been developed by the author and was presented in a separate article. Based on this methodology, multiple new ecological system measures and indices of matrix, vector, and scalar types are systematically introduced in the present paper. These mathematical system analysis tools are quantitative ecological indicators that monitor the flow distribution and storage organization, quantify the direct, indirect, acyclic, cycling, and transfer (diact) effects and utilities of one compartment-- directly or indirectly--on another, and determine the residence times and compartmental activity levels. Major flow- and stock-related concepts and quantities of the current static network analyses are also integrated with the proposed measures and indices within this novel and unifying mathematical framework. This comprehensive framework enables a holistic view and analysis of static ecological systems. A quantitative technique for the classification and characterization of interspecific interactions and the determination of their strength within food webs is also developed. The proposed methodology allows for both input- and output-oriented analyses of ecological networks. The holistic perspective of the proposed methodology is extended further from the input-oriented to the output-oriented analysis. The proposed system measures and indices, thus, extract detailed information about ecosystems's characteristics, as well as their functions, properties, behaviors, and various other system attributes that are potentially hidden in and even obscured by data.

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