Elkhorn coral outplanting shows some positive signs

Written By Samantha Andrews, Founder, Ocean Oculus

Good news for elkhorn coral restoration in Florida, USA

Research from Dr Stephanie Rosales and colleagues suggests that outplanting (transplanting from a nursery to an outside location) elkhorn corals to shallow waters with fast currents should give them a better chance of survival.

Elkhorn coral spawning. There are lots of white dots in the water

Credit: Elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata) spawning at Dry Tortugas National Park. Credit Brett Seymore, National Park Service (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Thanks to their complex, branching shape, elkhorn corals are considered to be a key reef-building species in Florida. Restoration is hard at the best of times because we don’t necessarily know what elements contribute to restored survival - or not. Then there are events like the 2023 marine heatwave that wiped out ~75% of previously restored elkhorns.

Alongside the shallow-water, fast current finding, the researchers also found that certain bacteria were associated with survival and that elevated levels of nitrate, nitrite, and temperature could negatively affect these bacteria and increase coral pathogens.

➡️ Read the open-access research

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Samantha Andrews, Founder, Ocean Oculus

Samantha is a marine ecologist, science communicator, and writer. Samantha be found talking or writing about our Earth in all its splendour—including the people and other animals who live here, and achieving a more sustainable future

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