In February, the Foundation carried out ecological restoration activities on coral reefs in the Rosario Islands. One of the species worked on was Elkhorn coral (Acropora cervicorni), an endangered species.
For the past two years, under a consultancy conducted by the Ecomares Foundation, complementary ecological restoration activities have been carried out with the support of the Los Corales del Rosario and San Bernardo National Natural Park (PNNCRySB).
In January 2019, coral nurseries were set up to obtain new colonies for the repopulation of reefs within the protected area. Microfragments of the massive coral Orbicella faveolata and Porites porites, and the branching coral Acropora cervicorniswere used to facilitate this restoration effort.
In the monitoring carried out last August, the team, led by Drs. Elvira Alvarado and Valeria Pizarro, found that the growth of the colonies of A. cervicornis had been so significant that they were rubbing against each other and were nearly reaching the sand on which the nurseries were placed. These corals had to be transferred to the reef at Isla Tesoro to begin the coral repopulation process.
In February, the team once again traveled to the protected area and found that the survival rate of the transplanted coral colonies had been very high, exceeding all expectations. This species has suffered drastic population reductions over the last few decades throughout the Caribbean. This highlights the importance of working with this and other coral species to help compensate for the damage suffered by coral reefs. Additionally, the growth of the massive corals O. faveolata and P. porites in the coral nurseries has been so satisfactory that, despite their slow growth, fusion between fragments is already observed, along with growth in both area and height of these corals. Good news for ecological restoration in this important National Park.
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