Abstract Summary
Coral reefs are complex and productive ecosystems that encompass the highest biodiversity of any marine ecosystem. Unfortunately, 2010-2016 bleaching events seriously affected coral reefs health of the Republic of Maldives, including the coral reefs surrounding Magoodhoo Island, Faafu Atoll. This study was aimed to evaluate suitability of Maldivian lagoons for the restoration of Maldivian reef-building corals using the coral gardening concept. Herein, 4 rope nurseries of 20m square each were installed in a sandy lagoon at 13 meters depth where large stands of different scleractinian species were found. A total of 755 corals fragments were installed, belonging to Acropora muricata (66%), Acropora sp. (19%), Porites rus (13%), and Pocillopora sp. (2%). Quarterly survival, growth (linear extension/ecological volume) and tissue regeneration monitoring of coral fragments revealed a 95% survival of coral fragments. In particular few coral colonies were found affected by coral bleaching and diseases. Furthermore, after 6 months the average growth for coral fragments ranged from 1.22 to 4.71 cm/month with the most abundant species A. muricata displaying the highest value. The calm conditions of the lagoon seem to have favour colony growth and regeneration for this species which is in contrast to reports in the literature. Thus, we strongly highlight the extreme growth rate showed by Acropora spp. These are the results of the first workshop on coral reef restoration held in Magoodhoo with the objective of transfering theoretical and practical knowledge on large-scale coral gardening for the rehabilitation of degraded reefs. We finally believe that similar initiative becomes essential to the recovery of coral reefs in the Republic of Maldives, heavily affected by coral bleaching and poor coastal development.
