Knoester E G, Vos A, Saru C, Murk A J, Osinga R
Marine Animal Ecology, Wageningen University and Research, PO Box 338, Wageningen 6700 AH, The Netherlands.
REEFolution Trust, Diani Beach Road 5112-80401, Diani Beach, Kenya.
R Soc Open Sci. 2024 Dec 4;11(12):241064. doi: 10.1098/rsos.241064. eCollection 2024 Dec.
Artificial reefs for coral reef restoration are often concrete-based. After concrete is poured, it initially has a high surface pH (approx. 13), which neutralizes within several weeks. During this curing, colonization by marine microalgae is delayed and also macrobenthos such as corals may be impacted. In this study, we evaluated how concrete curing time applied prior to the deployment of artificial reefs affected coral performance. Fragments of five coral species were outplanted onto ordinary Portland concrete discs ( = 10) that had been cured on land. Seven different curing periods were applied, ranging from one day up to four months. The discs with corals were deployed at a Kenyan reef and photographed at the start and end of the experiment. After 1 year, coral cover had increased for four coral species and declined for one, but this was unrelated to concrete curing time. Also, no effect of curing time was seen on the development of other common benthic organisms such as macroalgae or soft corals. We conclude that curing of concrete is unlikely to have any long-term negative impacts on coral performance and therefore, extended curing of artificial reefs prior to coral attachment is unlikely to benefit reef restoration efforts.
用于珊瑚礁修复的人工鱼礁通常以混凝土为基础。混凝土浇筑后，其初始表面pH值较高（约为13），会在几周内中和。在这个养护过程中，海洋微藻的定殖会延迟，而且像珊瑚这样的大型底栖生物也可能受到影响。在本研究中，我们评估了在人工鱼礁部署前施加的混凝土养护时间如何影响珊瑚的表现。将五种珊瑚物种的碎片移植到在陆地上养护过的普通波特兰混凝土圆盘（ = 10）上。施加了七个不同的养护期，从一天到四个月不等。带有珊瑚的圆盘被部署在肯尼亚的一个珊瑚礁上，并在实验开始和结束时拍照。一年后，四种珊瑚物种的珊瑚覆盖率增加，一种下降，但这与混凝土养护时间无关。此外，未观察到养护时间对其他常见底栖生物如大型藻类或软珊瑚的生长有影响。我们得出结论，混凝土的养护不太可能对珊瑚表现产生任何长期负面影响，因此，在珊瑚附着前对人工鱼礁进行延长养护不太可能有利于珊瑚礁修复工作。
