Larval seedboxes: A modular and effective tool for scaling coral reef restoration.

ABSTRACT: Natural recovery of degraded coral reefs is constrained by low larval recruitment, limiting restoration at ecologically meaningful scales. While propagule-based approaches have proven effective in plant-dominated systems, scaling larval restoration for sessile invertebrates like corals remains challenging. Traditional coral larval methods rely on net enclosures, restricting impact to small areas (<75 m²). We developed and tested a modular, passive larval delivery system-the larval seedbox-to overcome these spatial constraints. Each unit (600 × 500 × 300 mm; 11 kg) enables delayed release of competent larvae near the benthos, enhancing substrate encounter rates over broader areas. At Lizard Island (Great Barrier Reef), five seedboxes delivered ~14 million larvae across ~2 ha of d

SUBMITTER: Doropoulos C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12611342 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature