Methods for restoring damaged reefs with larval restoration

According to Peter L Harrison and Dexter de la Cruz,

"Increasing rates and scales of natural and man-made disturbances are accelerating the loss of foundation reef-building coral communities and ecosystem function on many reefs globally.

Loss of adult breeding populations impairs or blocks reproductive success and natural larval supply and settlement processes that are essential for reef recovery.

Coral restoration using sexual production of millions of genetically diverse coral larvae can aid restoration of coral populations and communities on damaged reefs. However, scaling up larval production and increasing the efficiency of larval supply to enhance settlement and recruitment outcomes need further research.

This Technical Report outlines the history and development of novel reef-based coral larval restoration methods and the evolution of equipment designed to increase the scale and success of mass larval production using millions of gametes collected from wild spawn slicks and mass larval culture in floating larval culture pools in the Philippines and Australia for deployment on degraded reefs."