Survival and mortality of coral for Reef Restoration and Adaptation

Increasing the survival of coral young in their early life-stages.
The Australian Institute of Marine Science is researching coral seeding as a restoration technique designed to help speed up the return of coral cover to reefs that have been disturbed or damaged. This is one intervention amongst a suite being developed as part of the Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program to help the Great Barrier Reef resist, adapt to, and recover from climate change impacts.
- What drives coral survival in the early years?
- How does survival differ between environments and species?
Learn more: www.aims.gov.au/information-c...
The Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program is funded by the partnership between the Australian Government’s Reef Trust and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation.

[@sana123sa]

My dream become a marine biologist 🥰❤️ this vedio so amazing... Is a Indian citizen can study in Australia institute of Marine science

[@unchartedodyssey]

Another great video thank you for sharing. I noticed there are different structures for the different recruits and was wondering do different species require certain structures to flourish or are you trying different structures and seeing which perform the best in the natural environment? Or is it something else entirely?

[@AustralianMarineScience]

Hi, Great questions! As coral seeding is relatively new, several designs are being developed, tested, and improved. The devices need to help increase the survival of the coral juveniles, and the optimal device likely varies by species and environment. We're testing designs that protect the young coral from grazing fish and predators, but this also needs to be combined with the retention of the device on the Reef, and also where the corals are placed on the device to ensure they receive what they need from the environment, such as light and water flow. Different designs have corals facing upwards or downwards or sideways, for example. Other design criteria such as cost, size, ease of deployment, and suitability for automation are also important. We are even investigating the performance of different materials for manufacturing the seeding devices, all selected with environmental acceptability, cost and ease of manufacturing as key requirements.

[@unchartedodyssey]

​@@AustralianMarineScience Thank you so much for the quick response. I imagine material comes into play too. Seems like a great application for 3D printing. It would be cool to see the different designs in a flow tunnel to take a look at how the fluid dynamics were playing out. The patterns in life created by the flow of nutrients is so fascinating.