On Feb. 16, NSU announced that The Halmos College of Arts and Sciences researchers will partner with the Coral Restoration Foundation (CRF), the leading coral research non-profit organization. The project aims to install a new coral nursery of 19 “Coral Trees,” focusing on 180 unique genotypes of Staghorn (Acropora cervicornis) and Elkhorn (Acropora palmata) coral, both considered critically endangered species.
According to Morgan Hightshoe, research assistant and former NSU graduate student, these species have experienced a significant decline in populations — up to 98% in some cases. Since these species are critical reef builders throughout the Caribbean, this has impacted the overall health of the reef ecosystem. The idea behind taking these genotypes and raising them through a nursery is to preserve the genetic diversity and help these populations recover for future generations.
According to David Gilliam, assistant professor in NSU’s Halmos College of Arts and Sciences and the principal investigator for NSU’s coral nursery, for the past 10 years, NSU has been maintaining an offshore stone coral nursery, which is currently managed by Grace Hanson, graduate student and research assistant at NSU. The objective of this nursery is to move some of the corals that have matured in the nursery and plant them in the reef ecosystem to help those particular species recover, and overall, help coral restoration and expose students to this hands-on experience.
“Having partnerships like this really opens up opportunities for students to experience new people and places that might lead to employment and the types of careers they might be interested in. It’s a great opportunity that is very hands-on. Partnerships have a lot of great science, but also provide funding and we can’t overlook the value of that as that keeps us going. I think this nursery is perfect in all those aspects. It’s hands-on, which I know is great for students and it’s tangible in a short amount of time. You can see the benefit that this effort gives to the reef rather quickly and that’s nice for graduate students. It keeps everyone’s hopes alive for restoration and it’s a very positive project,” said Gilliam.
The NSU nursery also utilizes the “Coral Tree” technology that will be implemented in the joint NSU and CRF effort nursery.
“Coral Trees are a relatively simple design and accessible methodology. You have a PVC pipe in the center with holes drilled through that hold fiberglass branches, which the coral is hung from with fishing line. A really great advantage of Coral Trees is their footprint,” said Hanson.
Hanson also said, “The only real impact they have is an anchor that holds the tree suspended from the benthos. From that perspective, they have a really low impact on the environment and provide the corals the ability to be hoisted up away from their predators like snails. Research has shown that corals grow fantastically through this method and we have seen that in our own nursery, especially when it’s the summer when the water is warm.”
This additional nursery will support both organizations as a secondary genetic “bank” of Acropora corals. According to Hightshoe, who will manage NSU contribution to the partnership nursery, genetic banking provides an opportunity to store these genotypes in a safe place. Particularly, in a location that can be generally undisturbed to protect them as they grow. The CRF already has these genotypes in their nursery, but by sharing them in this partnership provides an additional safeguard in case of natural disasters and other significant weather events, like Hurricane Irma, which had a major impact on coral nurseries in Florida. By having multiple nursery sites, it provides an opportunity for more reliable restock of populations as well as more efforts of propagation.
