Concrete bubbles promise to help restore coral reefs faster

Usually, when conservationists try to recover dead or dead coral reefs, they perform it manually by forcing coral fragments to live with existing reefs. It is a complicated and time consuming process. Thanks to the new technology developed by the SECORE International marine ecology group, coral reefs can recover as quickly and easily as sowing in the garden.

As part of a pilot project taking place in Curaçao, the researchers began by collecting larvae developed by coral colonies (Favia fragum) at a local coral reef. In a laboratory, the larvae were then deposited in a small rectangular concrete structure. A few weeks later, after the larvae have stabilized into coral polyps on concrete, these structures are called coral seed bases that are put into simple coral reefs by hand - insert them into the slots. available.

A year later, more than half of these "seed facilities" have at least one growing coral. This number may be higher if the algae grow on the sun's surface around the seed structure.

According to SECORE, transplanting about 10,000 individuals per hectare of coral reefs using traditional methods takes several hundred to several thousand hours. Conversely, using new technology, the same task can be completed under 50 hours.

Dr. Dirk Petersen, project director, said: "So far, the number of coral seed substrates is limited because they are produced by hand with molds. We are cooperating with partners. Our to perform production of tetrapod substrates on an industrial scale, in large quantities and significantly lower costs " .

"If we can combine new cultivation methods with more efficient coral larval rearing techniques that we are currently developing, the cost of coral reef recovery may be lower than the cost of efforts. force to restore existing mangrove forests and marshes " .

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