Using Propagules to Restore Coastal Marine Ecosystems

Vanderklift, Mathew A.; Doropoulos, Christopher; Gorman, Daniel; Leal, Inês; Minne, Antoine J. P.; Statton, John; Steven, Andrew D. L.; Wernberg, Thomas

doi:10.3389/fmars.2020.00724

Cited by 55 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 141 publications

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“…However, propagation based on settling larvae will be necessary for species such as alcyonaceans, which lack axes and cannot be propagated using colony fragments (Steinberg et al, 2020). Bramanti et al (2007) examined field settlement to tiles, which could be transported to new areas, but ex situ development of larvae may be important in repopulating areas where natural settlement is too low to reestablish populations (Vanderklift et al, 2020). Inducing polyembryony, if the larvae are equally likely to survive, could be an effective technique to increase the numbers of larvae available to remediation projects.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spawning, embryogenesis, settlement, and post‐settlement development of the gorgonian Plexaura homomalla

Tonra

Wells

Lasker

2021

Invertebrate Biology

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Patterns of population biology and community structure can be studied by looking closely at the ontogeny and reproductive biology of reef‐building organisms. This knowledge is particularly important for Caribbean octocorals, which seem to be more resilient to long‐term environmental change than scleractinian corals and provide some of the same ecological services. We monitored the development of the black sea rod, Plexaura homomalla, a common, widely distributed octocoral on shallow Caribbean reefs, from eggs to three‐polyp colonies over the course of 10 weeks. Gametes were collected ex situ on St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands, during spawning events that occurred 3–6 days after the July full moon. Cleavage started 3.0 hr after fertilization and was holoblastic, equal, and radial. Embryos were positively buoyant until becoming planulae at 3 days after fertilization. Planulae were competent to settle 4 days after fertilization. Symbiodiniaceae began infecting polyps ~8 days after fertilization. Overall, development was typical for Caribbean octocorals, except for an increase in the number of embryos between 3.5 and 6.0 hr after fertilization.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spawning, embryogenesis, settlement, and post‐settlement development of the gorgonian Plexaura homomalla

Tonra

Wells

Lasker

2021

Invertebrate Biology

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“…Thus, it is largely unknown whether other factors structuring the epiphyte communities of adult plants (e.g., substrate type) are also acting at the seedling stage. This is a relevant gap in knowledge considering the critical role that sexual recruitment plays in the maintenance and expansion of seagrass meadows (Balestri and Lardicci, 2008;Kendrick et al, 2012;Tan et al, 2020;Vanderklift et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Substrate Type Influences the Structure of Epiphyte Communities and the Growth of Posidonia oceanica Seedlings

et al. 2021

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Epiphytes colonizing adult seagrasses highly contribute to seagrass ecosystem functioning and plant growth. Yet, little information exists on epiphytic communities developing on seagrass seedlings. Moreover, for some species our knowledge about seedling performance is limited to early establishment phases, and the role of substrate type in affecting their growth is still unclear. These are considerable knowledge gaps, as seedlings play an important role in meadow expansion and recovery from disturbance. In this study, seedlings of Posidonia oceanica, a keystone species of the Mediterranean, were grown in a shallow (1.5 m deep) coastal area along the Tuscany coast (Italy). After five years of growth (July 2009), seedlings were collected and, through multivariate analysis, we examined whether the epiphytic communities of leaves (both internal and external side) and rhizomes, as well as the growth characteristics differed between rock and sand substrate. The epiphytic communities of seedlings largely reflected those found on adult shoots. Epiphyte cover was similar between the two leaf sides, and it was higher on seedlings grown on rock than on sand, with encrusting algae dominating the community. No differences in epiphyte cover and community structure on rhizomes were found between substrates. Seedling growth characteristics did not differ between substrates, apart from the number of standing leaves being higher on rock than on sand. No correlation was found among epiphyte communities and seedling growth variables (i.e., leaf area, maximum leaf length, number of leaves, total number of leaves produced, rhizome length, total biomass, and root to shoot biomass ratio). Results indicate that epiphytes successfully colonize P. oceanica seedlings, and the surrounding micro-environment (i.e., substrate type) can influence the leaf epiphytic community. This study provides new valuable insights on the biological interactions occurring in seagrass ecosystems and highlights the need for better understanding the effects of seedling epiphytes and substrate on the formation of new meadows.

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“…In this study we combine SB trials with CLP using Acropora digitifera as a model species to select for heat tolerance. This framework can also be applied to other propagule-producing organisms (Vanderklift et al, 2020), and other adaptive traits like growth rate, disease resistance or wound healing capability (Baums et al, 2019). The proposed framework is structured into six sections: (1) selection of parental colonies with traits of interest based on phenotypic or other functional characteristics (e.g., known genotypic markers), (2) design of crosses for SB, (3) methods for collecting gametes to perform SB with corals, (4) methods of larval rearing and settlement onto substrate units en masse to produce coral colonies, (5) rearing of coral colonies (in situ or ex situ) for later outplanting to natural reef habitats, and (6) outplant of corals to the reef and monitoring of their growth and survivorship.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Experimental Framework for Selectively Breeding Corals for Assisted Evolution

et al. 2021

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Coral cover on tropical reefs has declined during the last three decades due to the combined effects of climate change, destructive fishing, pollution, and land use change. Drastic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions combined with effective coastal management and conservation strategies are essential to slow this decline. Innovative approaches, such as selective breeding for adaptive traits combined with large-scale sexual propagation, are being developed with the aim of pre-adapting reefs to increased ocean warming. However, there are still major gaps in our understanding of the technical and methodological constraints to producing corals for such restoration interventions. Here we propose a framework for selectively breeding corals and rearing them from eggs to 2.5-year old colonies using the coral Acropora digitifera as a model species. We present methods for choosing colonies for selective crossing, enhancing early survivorship in ex situ and in situ nurseries, and outplanting and monitoring colonies on natal reefs. We used a short-term (7-day) temperature stress assay to select parental colonies based on heat tolerance of excised branches. From six parental colonies, we produced 12 distinct crosses, and compared survivorship and growth of colonies transferred to in situ nurseries or outplanted to the reef at different ages. We demonstrate that selectively breeding and rearing coral colonies is technically feasible at small scales and could be upscaled as part of restorative assisted evolution initiatives. Nonetheless, there are still challenges to overcome before selective breeding can be implemented as a viable conservation tool, especially at the post-settlement and outplanting phases. Although interdisciplinary approaches will be needed to overcome many of the challenges identified in this study, selective breeding has the potential to be a viable tool within a reef managers toolbox to support the persistence of selected reefs in the face of climate change.

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Using Propagules to Restore Coastal Marine Ecosystems

Cited by 55 publications

References 141 publications

Spawning, embryogenesis, settlement, and post‐settlement development of the gorgonian Plexaura homomalla

Spawning, embryogenesis, settlement, and post‐settlement development of the gorgonian Plexaura homomalla

Substrate Type Influences the Structure of Epiphyte Communities and the Growth of Posidonia oceanica Seedlings

An Experimental Framework for Selectively Breeding Corals for Assisted Evolution

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