Examining novel techniques in lab-based spawning to upscale coral restoration efforts

This project focused on three promising areas of research: enhancing methods in land-based coral spawning, larval rearing, and grow out by exploring the role of light, researching potential probiotics to use in coral propagation efforts, and testing whether fusing different genotypes of the same species can produce improved survival and growth for corals used for outplanting. This year, the researchers found the optimal light spectrum to grow one of our key bouldering restoration species – knobby brain coral. They also identified three new probiotic strains that have enhanced recruit survival and growth and found that different genotypes of branching corals could fuse into one within the first six months of life.