Environmental predictors for the restoration of a critically endangered coral, Acropora palmata, along the Florida reef tract.

ABSTRACT: The population decline and lack of natural recovery of multiple coral species along the Florida reef tract have instigated the expanding application of coral restoration and conservation efforts. Few studies, however, have determined the optimal locations for the survival of outplanted coral colonies from restoration nurseries. This study predicts the optimal locations for Acropora palmata colonies along the Florida reef tract using a boosted-regression-tree model to examine the relationships between the occurrence of wild A. palmata and ten environmental variables. Our model results predicted A. palmata was most likely to occur in shallow reef habitats with (i) generally low mean chlorophyll-a concentrations (< 1 mg m-3), (ii) moderate fetch (3 kJ m-2), (iii) salinities between 20 and 37.

SUBMITTER: Banister RB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10760844 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature