Abstract Summary
Degradation of coral reefs around the world has increased in recent years; causing its loss of structure and functionality. Therefore, ecological restoration actions have begun to be implemented to recover these characteristics, as well as the environmental services that they provide. However, there is not a specific survey that evaluates the effect of restoration actions and have to use methods for monitor reef’s health. The Society for Ecological Restoration (SER) has developed International Standards for terrestrial ecosystem restoration. These standards evaluate a site before, at the time, and after the restoration actions, using six main ecosystem attributes: Absence of threats, Physical conditions, Species composition, Structural diversity, Ecosystem functionality and External exchanges; in a range of 0 to 5 to evaluate their recovery. The National Institute of Fisheries and Aquaculture in Mexico (INAPESCA) is working to adapt these concepts to restored reefs. A pilot test is presented to evaluate the efficiency of restoration actions implemented in two reef areas damaged by ship grounding, action which outplanted fragments of eight corals species, from 2012 to 2016, and was lead by the Reef Restoration Program of Mexico. Attribute changes were mainly observed in species composition, structural diversity and ecosystem functionality, due to the increase in coverage of reef building corals. A shift of dominant species occurs, as well as an increase of environmental heterogeneity and fish fauna improved in richness and density. These changes contribute to the recovery of the reef’s natural functionality towards a resilient ecosystem. This tool also provides a more complete picture of the recovery process, which guides the implementation of actions towards restoration goals.
