Abstract Summary
To date coral restoration has focused disproportionately on branching species in large scale outplanting projects. These species are chosen because they fragment readily, have fast growth rates, and cover large areas in short periods of time. Unfortunately these traits are linked to species susceptible to thermal stress events. Conversely, massive corals are overlooked because of their slow growth rates, despite many being categorically less susceptible to bleaching stress. Additionally, large scale restoration relies primarily on asexual propagation to produce large clones of few individuals. These clones are established in a diversity of locations but new genetic material is never created during this process. These components are often not included in restoration plans because of difficulty producing such diverse outplants at scale. However, through the use of land based coral nurseries and advancement in methodology including processes such as microfragmentation, unprecedented success with massive species as well as early coral recruits has allowed Mote Marine Laboratory to focus on building resilient reefs rather than replacement alone
