Master Sciences pour l'Environnement, parcours Gestion de l'environnement et écologie Littorale, Université de La Rochelle, La Rochelle, France.
Posgrado en Biología, Sistema de Estudios de Posgrado, Universidad de Costa Rica, San Pedro de Montes de Oca, San José, Costa Rica.
PeerJ. 2022 Jun 23;10:e13248. doi: 10.7717/peerj.13248. eCollection 2022.
Coral reefs in Culebra Bay (North Pacific of Costa Rica) are threatened by multiple anthropogenic disturbances including global warming, overfishing, eutrophication, and invasive species outbreaks. It is possible to assist their recovery by implementing ecological restoration techniques. This study used artificial hexagonal steel structures, called "spiders" to compare growth of spp. coral fragments of different sizes. Three initial fragment class sizes were used: 2, 5 and 8 cm, with each class size having 42 initial fragments. Changes in fragment length, width and area were measured monthly from January to December 2020. Results showed an overall survivorship of 70.21%, and no significant differences in survivorship and linear growth rate were detected between class sizes. The linear growth rates are 4.49 ± 1.19 cm year, 5.35 ± 1.48 cm year and 3.25 ± 2.22 cm year for the 2, 5 and 8 cm initial class sizes, respectively. Our results do not show significant differences in growth rates between the different initial fragment sizes. However, since small fragments (2 cm) present higher mortality during the first month, we recommend using larger fragments. In addition, coral fragments grew 48% more during the non-upwelling season, which may suggest that it might be more effective and safer to start the restoration efforts during this period.
哥斯达黎加北太平洋的库莱布拉湾的珊瑚礁受到多种人为干扰的威胁，包括全球变暖、过度捕捞、富营养化和入侵物种爆发。通过实施生态恢复技术，可以帮助它们恢复。本研究使用了称为“蜘蛛”的人工六边形钢结构来比较不同大小的珊瑚碎片的生长情况。使用了三个初始碎片类大小：2、5 和 8 厘米，每个类大小有 42 个初始碎片。从 2020 年 1 月到 12 月，每月测量碎片长度、宽度和面积的变化。结果显示总体存活率为 70.21%，类大小之间的存活率和线性生长率没有显著差异。线性生长率分别为 2、5 和 8 厘米初始类大小的 4.49 ± 1.19 cm 年、5.35 ± 1.48 cm 年和 3.25 ± 2.22 cm 年。我们的结果表明，不同初始碎片大小之间的生长率没有显著差异。然而，由于小碎片（2 厘米）在前一个月死亡率较高，因此建议使用更大的碎片。此外，珊瑚碎片在非涌升季节生长了 48%，这可能表明在此期间开始恢复工作可能更有效且更安全。
