Abstract Summary
Active restoration to mitigate declines in coral cover is an essential component of coral conservation and management plans. However, the availability of monitoring data and success criteria is limited and often leads to criticism of restoration projects. Expanding an evaluation tool developed by Lirman et al. (2017), immediate and long-term success metrics were developed for evaluating restoration efforts to assess individual or collaborative performance and advancement towards restoration goals. Metrics provided within this tool are designed to evaluate the strength and robustness of each restoration project, program, or regional-scale effort, while also identifying specific metrics which may require action to improve performance. This tool follows the recovery goals, objectives and criteria outlined in the Recovery Plan for Elkhorn and Staghorn Corals (NMFS 2015) which may also be applied to additional species now listed within the US Endangered Species Act or have recently suffered dramatic losses in abundance and cover due to severe bleaching and disease events. Success metrics focus on increasing the abundance of and protecting the genetic diversity of coral populations throughout their geographical ranges through restoration and active management. Therefore, metrics outlined here focus on best management practices or results from restoration-based research conducted by experts in the field of coral propagation and outplanting. The intent of this tool is to evaluate each restoration metric using a stop-light indicator framework and allow self-critique of methodologies, techniques, and protocols to promote the design of adaptive strategies to improve performance and encourage communication between restoration partners (locally, regionally, or globally) to increase success. Therefore, this tool will advance the development of science-based benchmarks to achieve population-based recovery for coral reefs by evaluating the status of restoration techniques, outlining the positive attributes of productive projects and programs, and promoting the development of successful strategies.
