IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0267034.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Acropora cervicornis and Acropora palmata cultured on a low maintenance line nursery design in The Bahamas

Author

Listed:
  • Leah Maurer
  • Lauren Puishys
  • Nancy Kim Pham Ho
  • Craig Dahlgren
  • Tanya Y Kamerman
  • Scott Martin
  • M Andrew Stamper

Abstract

Acroporid corals are one of the most important corals in the Caribbean because of their role in building coral reefs. Unfortunately, Acropora corals have suffered a severe decline in the last 50 years thus prompting the development of many restoration practices, such as coral nurseries, to increase the abundance of these species. However, many coral nursery designs require constant visits and maintenance limiting restoration to more convenient sites. Additionally, most studies lack the details required for practitioners to make informed decisions about replicating nursery designs. Two line nurseries were monitored for three years in The Bahamas to assess the survival of corals, Acropora cervicornis and Acropora palmata, as well as evaluate the durability and cost effectiveness of the nursery design. Survivorship ranged from 70 to 97% with one location experiencing significantly higher survivorship. The initial year build-out cost was high for a nursery, $22.97 per coral, but each nursery was comprised of specific materials that could withstand high storm conditions. Some unique aspects of the design included the use of longline clips and large-diameter monofilament lines which allowed for easier adjustments and more vigorous cleaning. The design proved to be very durable with materials showing a life expectancy of five years or more. Additionally, the design was able to withstand multiple hurricanes and winter storm conditions with little to no damage. Only two maintenance visits a year were required reducing costs after construction. After three years, this nursery design showed promising durability of materials and survivorship of both Acropora cervicornis and Acropora palmata despite being serviced just twice a year.

Suggested Citation

  • Leah Maurer & Lauren Puishys & Nancy Kim Pham Ho & Craig Dahlgren & Tanya Y Kamerman & Scott Martin & M Andrew Stamper, 2022. "Acropora cervicornis and Acropora palmata cultured on a low maintenance line nursery design in The Bahamas," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(4), pages 1-15, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0267034
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0267034
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0267034
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0267034&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0267034?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Moberg, Fredrik & Folke, Carl, 1999. "Ecological goods and services of coral reef ecosystems," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 215-233, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Natalia Uribe-Castañeda & Alice Newton & Martin Le Tissier, 2018. "Coral Reef Socio-Ecological Systems Analysis & Restoration," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-11, November.
    2. Rocío del Pilar Moreno-Sánchez & Jorge H. Maldonado & Camilo Andrés Gutiérrez & Melissa Rubio, 2013. "Valoración de Áreas Marinas Protegidas desde la perspectiva de los usuarios de recursos: conciliando enfoques cuantitativos individuales con enfoques cualitativos colectivos," Documentos CEDE 11936, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    3. Phillip K Lowe & John F Bruno & Elizabeth R Selig & Matthew Spencer, 2011. "Empirical Models of Transitions between Coral Reef States: Effects of Region, Protection, and Environmental Change," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(11), pages 1-15, November.
    4. Ngoc, Quach Thi Khanh, 2019. "Assessing the value of coral reefs in the face of climate change: The evidence from Nha Trang Bay, Vietnam," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 99-108.
    5. Sheila M W Reddy & Theodore Groves & Sriniketh Nagavarapu, 2014. "Consequences of a Government-Controlled Agricultural Price Increase on Fishing and the Coral Reef Ecosystem in the Republic of Kiribati," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(5), pages 1-11, May.
    6. McVittie, Alistair & Moran, Dominic, 2010. "Valuing the non-use benefits of marine conservation zones: An application to the UK Marine Bill," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(2), pages 413-424, December.
    7. Malone, Thomas C. & DiGiacomo, Paul M. & Gonçalves, Emanuel & Knap, Anthony H. & Talaue-McManus, Liana & de Mora, Stephen, 2014. "A global ocean observing system framework for sustainable development," Marine Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 262-272.
    8. Rao, Nalini S. & Ghermandi, Andrea & Portela, Rosimeiry & Wang, Xuanwen, 2015. "Global values of coastal ecosystem services: A spatial economic analysis of shoreline protection values," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 11(C), pages 95-105.
    9. Alemu I, Jahson Berhane & Schuhmann, Peter & Agard, John, 2019. "Mixed preferences for lionfish encounters on reefs in Tobago: Results from a choice experiment," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 1-1.
    10. Javier Cuetos-Bueno & Dalia Hernandez-Ortiz & Curtis Graham & Peter Houk, 2018. "Human and environmental gradients predict catch, effort, and species composition in a large Micronesian coral-reef fishery," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(5), pages 1-18, May.
    11. Shalini Singh & Jahangeer A. Bhat & Shipra Shah & Nazir A. Pala, 2021. "Coastal resource management and tourism development in Fiji Islands: a conservation challenge," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 3009-3027, March.
    12. George Parsons & Steven Thur, 2008. "Valuing Changes in the Quality of Coral Reef Ecosystems: A Stated Preference Study of SCUBA Diving in the Bonaire National Marine Park," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 40(4), pages 593-608, August.
    13. Brathwaite, Angelique & Pascal, Nicolas & Clua, Eric, 2021. "When are payment for ecosystems services suitable for coral reef derived coastal protection?: A review of scientific requirements," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    14. Renken, Henk & Mumby, Peter J., 2009. "Modelling the dynamics of coral reef macroalgae using a Bayesian belief network approach," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 220(9), pages 1305-1314.
    15. Tamayo, Natasha Charmaine A. & Anticamara, Jonathan A. & Acosta-Michlik, Lilibeth, 2018. "National Estimates of Values of Philippine Reefs' Ecosystem Services," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 633-644.
    16. Larsen, Trine C. & Browne, Nicola K. & Erichsen, Anders C. & Tun, Karenne & Todd, Peter A., 2017. "Modelling for management: Coral photo-physiology and growth potential under varying turbidity regimes," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 362(C), pages 1-12.
    17. Crépin, Anne-Sophie & Biggs, Reinette & Polasky, Stephen & Troell, Max & de Zeeuw, Aart, 2012. "Regime shifts and management," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 15-22.
    18. Pellowe, Kara E. & Meacham, Megan & Peterson, Garry D. & Lade, Steven J., 2023. "Global analysis of reef ecosystem services reveals synergies, trade-offs and bundles," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    19. Miñarro, Sara & Leins, Johannes & Acevedo-Trejos, Esteban & Fulton, Elizabeth A. & Reuter, Hauke, 2018. "SEAMANCORE: A spatially explicit simulation model for assisting the local MANagement of COral REefs," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 384(C), pages 296-307.
    20. Ronaldo B Francini-Filho & Ericka O C Coni & Pedro M Meirelles & Gilberto M Amado-Filho & Fabiano L Thompson & Guilherme H Pereira-Filho & Alex C Bastos & Douglas P Abrantes & Camilo M Ferreira & Fern, 2013. "Dynamics of Coral Reef Benthic Assemblages of the Abrolhos Bank, Eastern Brazil: Inferences on Natural and Anthropogenic Drivers," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(1), pages 1-12, January.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0267034. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.