Novel infrastructure for coral gardening and reefscaping
Since 1950, coral abundance has declined worldwide by an estimated 60%, and further dramatic declines are predicted. Although global reductions in carbon emissions are essential to prevent further loss, coral reef restoration has become imperative to maintain the ecosystem services that coral reefs...
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-02-01
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Series: | Frontiers in Marine Science |
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Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2023.1110830/full |
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author | Sebastian Schmidt-Roach Rebecca Klaus Abdulaziz M. Al-Suwailem Alejandro R. Prieto Julian Charrière Charlotte A. E. Hauser Charlotte A. E. Hauser Carlos M. Duarte Carlos M. Duarte Manuel Aranda |
author_facet | Sebastian Schmidt-Roach Rebecca Klaus Abdulaziz M. Al-Suwailem Alejandro R. Prieto Julian Charrière Charlotte A. E. Hauser Charlotte A. E. Hauser Carlos M. Duarte Carlos M. Duarte Manuel Aranda |
author_sort | Sebastian Schmidt-Roach |
collection | DOAJ |
description | Since 1950, coral abundance has declined worldwide by an estimated 60%, and further dramatic declines are predicted. Although global reductions in carbon emissions are essential to prevent further loss, coral reef restoration has become imperative to maintain the ecosystem services that coral reefs provide to humans at local scales. Yet, currently coral restoration and gardening efforts are too expensive to scale up due to the labor-intensive nature of the methods and low success rates. Here, we present a suite of technologies that improve coral reef restoration and rehabilitation’s scalability, efficiency, and effectiveness. Our modular technologies are designed to streamline in and ex situ nursery workflows, reduce maintenance times, solve problems in transporting corals to outplanting sites, and enable rapid outplanting on natural and artificial substrates. These novel structures can act as coral seeding hubs, which placed strategically, can have the capacity to enhance coral reproduction and replenish degraded nearby reefs with larvae. They can be applied to coral restoration and reefscaping, complemented by unique eco-friendly, low-carbon-emission structures for the creation of architecturally and visually appealing habitats and underwater landscapes. Our technologies integrate novel monitoring approaches that support intelligent solutions to track genotypes, optimize and control stock management, apply assisted evolution approaches, and adaptive management through long-term monitoring. |
first_indexed | 2024-04-10T16:03:21Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-279e9a33b3c545c6b0942196a60cefd7 |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 2296-7745 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-04-10T16:03:21Z |
publishDate | 2023-02-01 |
publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
record_format | Article |
series | Frontiers in Marine Science |
spelling | doaj.art-279e9a33b3c545c6b0942196a60cefd72023-02-10T06:46:25ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Marine Science2296-77452023-02-011010.3389/fmars.2023.11108301110830Novel infrastructure for coral gardening and reefscapingSebastian Schmidt-Roach0Rebecca Klaus1Abdulaziz M. Al-Suwailem2Alejandro R. Prieto3Julian Charrière4Charlotte A. E. Hauser5Charlotte A. E. Hauser6Carlos M. Duarte7Carlos M. Duarte8Manuel Aranda9Red Sea Research Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Saudi ArabiaBeacon Development Company, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Saudi ArabiaBeacon Development Company, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Saudi ArabiaRed Sea Research Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Saudi ArabiaStudio Julian Charrière, Berlin, GermanyRed Sea Research Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Saudi ArabiaComputational Bioscience Research Center (CBRC), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Saudi ArabiaRed Sea Research Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Saudi ArabiaComputational Bioscience Research Center (CBRC), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Saudi ArabiaRed Sea Research Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Saudi ArabiaSince 1950, coral abundance has declined worldwide by an estimated 60%, and further dramatic declines are predicted. Although global reductions in carbon emissions are essential to prevent further loss, coral reef restoration has become imperative to maintain the ecosystem services that coral reefs provide to humans at local scales. Yet, currently coral restoration and gardening efforts are too expensive to scale up due to the labor-intensive nature of the methods and low success rates. Here, we present a suite of technologies that improve coral reef restoration and rehabilitation’s scalability, efficiency, and effectiveness. Our modular technologies are designed to streamline in and ex situ nursery workflows, reduce maintenance times, solve problems in transporting corals to outplanting sites, and enable rapid outplanting on natural and artificial substrates. These novel structures can act as coral seeding hubs, which placed strategically, can have the capacity to enhance coral reproduction and replenish degraded nearby reefs with larvae. They can be applied to coral restoration and reefscaping, complemented by unique eco-friendly, low-carbon-emission structures for the creation of architecturally and visually appealing habitats and underwater landscapes. Our technologies integrate novel monitoring approaches that support intelligent solutions to track genotypes, optimize and control stock management, apply assisted evolution approaches, and adaptive management through long-term monitoring.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2023.1110830/fullrestorationmaritechturecoral nurseryadaptive managementselective propagationblue architecture |
spellingShingle | Sebastian Schmidt-Roach Rebecca Klaus Abdulaziz M. Al-Suwailem Alejandro R. Prieto Julian Charrière Charlotte A. E. Hauser Charlotte A. E. Hauser Carlos M. Duarte Carlos M. Duarte Manuel Aranda Novel infrastructure for coral gardening and reefscaping Frontiers in Marine Science restoration maritechture coral nursery adaptive management selective propagation blue architecture |
title | Novel infrastructure for coral gardening and reefscaping |
title_full | Novel infrastructure for coral gardening and reefscaping |
title_fullStr | Novel infrastructure for coral gardening and reefscaping |
title_full_unstemmed | Novel infrastructure for coral gardening and reefscaping |
title_short | Novel infrastructure for coral gardening and reefscaping |
title_sort | novel infrastructure for coral gardening and reefscaping |
topic | restoration maritechture coral nursery adaptive management selective propagation blue architecture |
url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2023.1110830/full |
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