The review of coral transplantation around the world

Abstract

In order to restore disturbed coral reefs, transplantation of coral fragments or coral heads has been conducted in many parts of the world. We reviewed methods and results of the transplantation experiments described in numerous previous reports in order to determine recommendable methodologies. Problems that should be solved by future studies are discussed. For transplantation, generally, small pieces of coral are taken from the donor colony using hammer, chisel and the like. If the collection site is far from the transplantation site, fragments should be placed in bucket full of seawater. There are various methods to fix the coral fragment onto substrate, e. g. by means of epoxy cement, plastic coated wire and nails. They should be chosen according to size and shape of coral fragments, but we found fixation with nails and cable ties is easy and reliable for staghorn corals. The cost of transplantation with a density of 245, 000 fragments per hectare secured by means of nails and cable ties has been estimated at about 36, 000, 000 JPN Yen. So far, species of the genera Acropora, Porites, Pavona and Galaxea were most frequently used for transplantation as they have relatively high survival rates.