If you build it, will they come? Exploring Enhancements to Artificial Structure for use in
Restoration and Mitigation Applications
A. Kirk Kilfoyle1, T. Patrick Quinn1, Alasdair J. Edwards2, David S.
Gilliam1, Richard E. Dodge1, and Richard E. Spieler1
1) Nova Southeastern University Oceanographic Center
8000 North Ocean Drive, Dania Beach, FL 33004
2) Newcastle University
Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, NE1 7RU, UK
Effects of Degradation on Ecosystem Structure and Function
Possible Pathways to Recovery
How do you determine if, and how much, direct intervention is warranted? When is it better to let natural rates of growth and community
development dictate the pace of recovery?
(From: Edwards and Gomez, 2007)
AR Deployment Site
• Parque Nacional Arrecife de Puerto Morelos
• Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM) - Marine Science Laboratory
• Coral reef environment similar to Southeast Florida and the FL Keys
• Funded by World Bank and the
Global Environmental Facility (GEF)
• Coral Reef Targeted Research (CRTR) and Capacity Building for Management Program
Experimental Design
• Interventions / Treatments
– Control (10) • Un-altered substrate module (Reefball) used
for standardizing substrate.
– Artificial Substrate Pads (10) • Serves as refuge space for invertebrates;
additional forage source for fishes.
– Coral Transplants (10)
• 6 corals (2 x 3 species) on each SM: Montastrea annularis, Agaricia agaricites, and Porites astreoides.
– Settlement Plates (10) • Used to determine if low coral cover is the
result of high post-settlement mortality or low recruitment rates.
– Natural Reef (5 x 10m transects) • All parameters monitored on the SMs
monitored in identical fashion on Natural Reef transects.
Methodology
• Biannual monitoring trips
– Fish counts
– Coral recruitment surveys
– Quadrat photos and surveys
– Coral transplant assessment
– Settlement plate collection
– Artificial substrate pad collection
Coral, Benthic Invertebrate and Macroalgal Assemblages
• Increased coverage by benthic inverts and macroalgae = decreased area available for settlement and growth of coral recruits.
• Pad material seemed to accelerate growth of Desmapsamma anchorata, which inhibited coral recruitment and survival of coral transplants.
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Mar2007
Sep2007
Mar2008
Oct2008
Mar2009
Sep2009
Sep2012
% S
urv
ival
Coral Transplant Survival
P. astreoides
A. agaricites
M. annularis
0.00
0.20
0.40
0.60
0.80
1.00
Mar2008
Oct2008
Mar2009
Sep2009
Sep2012
% S
urv
ival
/SM
(+1
SEM
)
Mean Percent Survival of Coral Recruits
Control
Pads
Coral Transplant
Settlement Plates
0
10
20
30
40
50
Mar2007
Sep2007
Mar2008
Oct2008
Mar2009
Sep2009
Sep2012
% C
ove
rage
(+1
SEM
)
Percent Coverage of Desmapsamma anchorata
Control
Pads
Transplants
Settlement Plates0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Mar2007
Sep2007
Mar2008
Oct2008
Mar2009
Sep2009
Sep2012
% C
ove
rage
(+1
SEM
)
Percent Coverage of Lobophora variegata
Control
Pads
Tranpslants
Settlement Plates
Results: Reef Fish Assemblages
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
March2007
September2007
March2008
October2008
March2009
September2009
September2012
Me
an A
bu
nd
ance
(fi
she
s/co
un
t) (
+1 S
EM)
Date
Mean Abundance - All Treatments and All Years
Control
Pads
Transplants
Settlement Plates
Natural Reef
• Seasonal fluctuations. • No significant diff. in
abundance or species richness between treatments.
• Subtle species-specific differences.
• Assemblages on ARs and NR dissimilar.
• Benthic fouling community may have homogenized the treatments from a fish’s perspective to some degree.
Summary and Conclusions
• Was intervention justified? Not according to the goals of this project.
• Would a more structurally complex coral transplant species (i.e., Acropora cervicornis) have produced a more abundant and diverse assemblage of reef fish? Perhaps, but results suggest that the sponge would have overwhelmed it too. Routine maintenance would help!
• Did any treatments produce fish assemblages similar to nearby natural reefs? No, or at least not yet.
• Addition of final ‘bonus’ data collection point (6 years post deployment) indicates continued changes in community structure.
• Highlights the importance of using long-term monitoring for assessing AR performance, and pilot studies prior to implementing large scale restoration projects.
• Idea for consideration:
Transplant corals after initial wave of rapidly growing benthic organisms reaches a functional state of equilibrium.
