AOML capacity for coral propagation and technology development
Problems:NOAA does not have a dedicated facility for the settlement and grow out of ESA-listed corals, critical for restoration and restoration researchState-of-the-art stress-testing facilities at AOML lack a source of coral critical for research Coral p...
Performance-driven restoration and data coordination
Background and problem: Coral reef ecosystem health has declined worldwide due to numerous anthropogenic stressors. In the western Atlantic and US Caribbean, coral cover has dropped to levels that are unsustainable for reef habitat persistence, with ...
Evaluation of mechanisms to increase resilience of outplanted coral fragments
Coral cover has declined precipitously throughout the Caribbean due to numerous global, regional, and localized factors, ranging from warming and acidification, to disease and land-based sources of pollution. In addition to passive characterization of fai...
Coral performance evaluation: assessing the strengths and weaknesses of coral genotypes used in reef restoration
Background:While the majority of large restoration practitioners track and genotype parent colonies, little is known concerning genotype-specific performance. Previous work has revealed wide intraspecific variation in the ability of corals to respond to s...
Reef persistence evaluator: a decision-support tool for management interventions to preserve essential habitat
Background:Due to large losses in coral cover over the past 40 years, coupled with increasing erosion rates, most Caribbean coral reefs are in accretionary stasis or are net erosional. Over time, the complex three-dimensional habitat that forms healthy re...
Laboratory-based experimental evaluation of novel disease abatement techniques
We will address the restoration strategy to "support research and development of control techniques for coral disease and corallivores" by continuing to conduct field and lab experiments that explore the factors that promote coral disease transmission and...
Elucidating the recipe for coral reef resilience in the Florida Keys
Coral reefs along the Florida Keys portion of the Florida Reef Tract (FRT) have undergone a dramatic decline since the 1980s. Since the 1997-98 El Niño event, coral cover on offshore reefs of the FRT has been = 5% and continued to decline. Mortality of th...
Coral restoration in natural ocean acidification refugia
Improve Acropora nurseries and restoration efforts through analysis of growth and carbonate chemistry by coordinating and leveraging ongoing nursery/restoration operations and NCRMP-associated water analysis.Need:Populations of ESA-listed Acropora cervico...
Coral Growth and Reef Framework Persistence of the SEFCRI region of the Florida Reef Tract with Ocean Acidification
This proposal describes a two-year extension (FY14-15) to the previously funded (FY10-13) "Coral Growth of the Florida Reef Tract with Accelerating Ocean Acidification," which focused exclusively on the Florida Keys portion of the Florida Reef Tract. The ...
AOML capacity for coral propagation and technology development