Smithsonian National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, Washington, D.C., United States of America.
Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, Kaneohe, HI, United States of America.
PeerJ. 2023 Aug 7;11:e15723. doi: 10.7717/peerj.15723. eCollection 2023.
Anthropogenic stressors threaten reefs worldwide and natural coral reproduction may be inadequate to meet this challenge. Land-based culture can provide increased coral growth, especially with microfragments. We tested whether culture methods using different algal fouling communities could improve the growth and health metrics of microfragments of the Hawaiian coral, Culture method fouling communities were: (1) similar to a reef environment (Mini Reef); (2) clean tanks managed to promote crustose coralline algae (Clean Start); and (3) tanks curated beforehand with poorly-competing algae (Green Film) assessed in winter and summer months. The Green Film method during the winter produced the fastest microfragment mean growth at 28 days until the first row of new polyps developed, and also the highest tank and plate metric health scores. Time efficient, standardized methods for land-based culture designed to maximize growth and production of coral fragments will contribute considerably to the success of large-scale restoration efforts.
人为压力威胁着全球的珊瑚礁，而自然珊瑚繁殖可能不足以应对这一挑战。基于陆地的养殖可以提供珊瑚的生长，尤其是利用微碎片。我们测试了使用不同藻类污损群落的养殖方法是否可以提高夏威夷珊瑚的微碎片的生长和健康指标。养殖方法的污损群落包括：（1）类似于珊瑚礁环境的（小礁）；（2）干净的水箱管理以促进皮层珊瑚藻（清洁开始）；和（3）事先用竞争力较弱的藻类培养的水箱（绿色薄膜）在冬季和夏季进行评估。冬季的绿色薄膜方法在第一个新珊瑚虫排发育之前的 28 天内产生了最快的微碎片平均生长速度，并且还获得了最高的水箱和板块健康评分。旨在最大程度提高珊瑚碎片生长和产量的高效、标准化的陆地养殖方法将极大地促进大规模恢复工作的成功。
