Low-tech method for monitoring coral transplants

In this study, a monitoring method was developed to assess the success of a coral reef restoration project at a boutique hotel resort in Seychelles, Indian Ocean.

The restoration involved transplanting 2,015 nursery-grown corals of various growth types to a degraded patch reef. To facilitate monitoring by hotel staff without scientific training, a simple protocol was devised.

Each transplanted coral was affixed with a reflective tile on its north side instead of numbered tags to avoid biofouling interference. Hotel staff, equipped with a map of the restoration site and the reflective tiles, were able to locate the monitored colonies during regular diving activities.

They recorded the status of each coral (alive, dead, or bleaching) and took top-view photographs with the reflective square visible. Using these photographs, the two-dimensional coral planar area and changes in colony size over one year were measured using contour tissue measurements.

This easy-to-apply method allowed hotel staff to participate in monitoring the survival and growth of the transplanted corals, providing valuable data to quantify the project's success or failure over time.