This past month, the Voss lab has begun a new collaboration in a large-scale effort to outplant colonies of Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD)-susceptible species along Florida's Coral Reef. More than 1,100 coral colonies have been outplanted for this project across the Florida reef tract from the most northern region in Martin County and south to Key West. The Voss lab is responsible for the outplanting and monitoring of the most northern outplant sites, found on St. Lucie Reef and in West Palm Beach. Three species of SCTLD-susceptible corals were chosen to be outplanted for this project; Orbicella faveolata, Pseudodiploria clivosa, and Montastraea cavernosa. Each site has 48 coral colonies that will be monitored by divers on a monthly basis over the next two years. The purpose of this outplanting experiment is to determine how these susceptible species respond to outplanting in the SCTLD endemic zone, where the majority of the highly susceptible species have died but evidence of the disease is still observed. This long-term study will provide insight for future management and restoration of SCTLD susceptible corals on Florida's Coral Reef.
The project is being led by The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and includes partners at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP), Nova Southeastern University, Coral Restoration Foundation, Mote Marine Laboratory, University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, Biscayne National Park, Reef Renewal, and Florida Institute of Oceanography at Keys Marine Laboratory.
For more information on this project, click here.
A photo album for this project can be found here: Coral Restoration Team Trials 2021
The project is being led by The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and includes partners at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP), Nova Southeastern University, Coral Restoration Foundation, Mote Marine Laboratory, University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, Biscayne National Park, Reef Renewal, and Florida Institute of Oceanography at Keys Marine Laboratory.
For more information on this project, click here.
A photo album for this project can be found here: Coral Restoration Team Trials 2021
Alexis Sturm pictured cementing individual coral fragments into their respective bases.
Colony of Orbicella faveolata shown on the day of outplanting. Each site contains 48 of these specially designed bases, with each base containing five genetically identical coral fragments.
Erin Shilling shown above taking photos of each individual colony. These photos will be used for continued monitoring of the outplanted corals. (All photos by Ryan Eckert)
