Southeast Florida Coral Reef Restoration Hub

An important update from the Restoration Hub!

Coral Glow Up 🪸⬆️
Check out the before/after images of these brain and star corals after only 6 months in Rescue a Reef Program’s underwater coral nursery! The use of micro-fragmentation for coral gardening helps promote rapid growth among massive coral species.

As part of the Southeast Florida Coral Reef Restoration Hub project, our team has worked to aggressively expand and scale up the gardening and restoration of coral species affected by Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease, a devastating disease that has heavily impacted Florida’s Coral Reef. This project supported the growth and restoration of 5,000 massive corals though, like the Pseudodiploria clivosa and Montastraea cavernosa corals pictured here!

📸: Emily Esplandiu, Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science research associate

New Urchin Publication 🚨
A new study as part of the showed promising results for the potential of urchin transplantation to reduce reef macroalgae and compliment coral restoration!

The long-spined sea urchin (Diadema antillarum) is a critical reef grazer capable of keeping macroalgae populations in check and creating space for coral recruitment. However, a significant mortality event in 1983-1984 left the urchin’s populations very low and restocking attempts to date have resulted in poor survival and retention. This new research aimed at improving urchin restocking strategies!

Pilnick et al. (2023) found that urchin transplantation had significantly higher success in sites with higher rugosity! Additionally, there was a significant decline in macroalage relative to the controls when urchin densities were above a threshold. These were very encouraging results for the potential of urchin transplantation to aid in coral restoration activities!

This urchin transplantation study was led by Dr. Aaron Pilnick of UF College of Agricultural and Life Sciences in collaboration with Rescue a Reef Program, Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science, and FORCE BLUE, and was supported in part by the Southeast Florida Coral Reef Restoration Hub project funded by National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. Follow the link below for the full publication!

📖: Pilnick et al., Coral Reefs, 2023�
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-023-02369-5

Story by the Miami Herald featuring new research as part of the Restoration Hub!

The urchin transplantation study was lead by Dr. Aaron Pilnick of the UF College of Agricultural and Life Sciences in collaboration with Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science, Rescue a Reef Program, among others!

Sea urchin die-off threatens reefs from Florida to Caribbean. Scientists hope to revive them These days, long-spined sea urchins are known as the gardeners of the sea. They tend the algae on the coral reefs they call home, making sure it never overwhelms their hosts. Spotting one on the Florida reef tract is a good sign that nearby corals are doing OK.

Exciting new research publication out of the Restoration Hub!
Rescue a Reef Program Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science

Yesterday, five of this year’s Restoration Hub Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science Masters of Professional Science interns presented their final projects!
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Huge congratulations to Britney Swiniuch and Cannon Hobbs (The Coral Reef Futures Lab), Sam Beasley (The Florida Aquarium), Kaitlyn Strub (Nova Southeastern University), and Steven Olayon (Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science), all of whom have done amazing work to help advance coral research and reef restoration Florida’s Coral Reef!
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We are so proud of the hard work these students have done over the past 6+ months to contribute to our Southeast Florida Coral Reef Restoration Hub goals!
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Also, huge thanks to scientists from Smithsonian, SECORE International, Nova Southeastern University and Rescue a Reef Program for giving presentations on all the great research your teams have done this year! 🙌

An update from our project partners at SECORE International 👇

Grooved Brain Coral spawned at The Florida Aquarium Conservation Center! Read more to learn how they raise genetically diverse corals:

The Florida Aquarium is dedicated to raising genetically diverse corals through sexual reproduction. Grooved Brain Coral are hermaphroditic broadcast spawners; they release large bundles of eggs and s***m into the water that break apart in the ocean currents, fertilizing the eggs from the surrounding colonies.

As soon as biologists observed spawning, they quickly collected gametes by skimming the floating bundles from the water's surface.

After collection, biologists mixed the gametes to fertilize new genetic diversity in the resulting offspring. Biologists then closely monitor the coral larvae, allowing them to settle and grow!

Once large enough, these genetically diverse corals can be planted in Florida’s Coral Reefs with help from our partners at the Southeast Florida Coral Restoration Hub. These corals will contribute to the Restoration Hub’s goal of planting over 150,000 corals in 3 years to restore reef habitats in southeast Florida!

Parent Grooved Brain Coral colonies were rescued as part of The Association of Zoos and Aquariums Florida Reef Tract Rescue Project. A multi-agency effort managed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation and NOAA Fisheries Service
https://lnkd.in/gyYTMaic

Check out this story about the work being conducted by our Hub partners at University of Miami - College of Engineering!

https://news.miami.edu/stories/2022/06/engineers-explore-innovative-ways-to-improve-resilience-of-coastal-structures.html

Engineers explore innovative ways to improve resilience of coastal structures University of Miami engineering and ocean sciences faculty members received federal research funding recently to delve into how they can strengthen coastal buildings and seawalls in the face of climate change.

Happy !
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Today and every day, let us honor and cherish the world’s oceans, mindful of the vital role they play in keeping our planet and our communities healthy, and let us strive to be ever-better stewards of the marine environment. We depend on it to survive, and it depends on us to thrive!

World Ocean Day celebration at !
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Yesterday, students, staff, and faculty from (, ), , ( & ), , and participated in an amazing at the Frost Science Museum! Each lab / organization ran a table showcasing their respective coral research and restoration efforts (all part of the ), and several folks also gave talks on the big stage! Very proud of all our members for getting the public, and especially kids, excited about coral reef conservation and restoration!

On Thursday, the held a coral reproduction workshop at . Ahead of the 2022 spawning season, our goals were to (1) educate new students about coral reproduction and larval rearing, (2) learn from each Hub organization about research/restoration triumphs, challenges, and upcoming plans, and (3) exchange ideas to foster further collaborations among Hub partners.
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Thank you to all the presenters, and to the awesome Hub students, staff, and faculty (new and returning) from , , , , , , , , and for your participation and engagement!
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We can’t wait for the research and knowledge that the 2022 spawning season will bring! 🎉

Repost from • In the wake of the Stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD), many of Broward county’s coral colonies have become reproductively isolated from the rest of their populations, leading to an Allee effect (loss of genetic diversity and fitness) in the Kristin Jacobs Coral Reef Ecosystem Conservation Area. To combat this barrier to sexual reproduction, PI’s and .palmilhar developed the concept of Spawning Hubs which compiled 4 different species of massive coral into established sites which could facilitate more successful, natural sexual reproduction as well as allow divers to easily access the gametes of multiple colonies during spawning events.

On May 26th, we witnessed the spawning of 6 colonies of the grooved brain coral - Diploria labyrinthiformis! This species of coral is a hermaphroditic broadcast spawner, meaning it releases bundles of gametes (s***m and egg) into the water column to be fertilized by other corals. Once the gametes are released into the water column, some are collected with spawning nets and transported to an ex-situ nursery, where they can be fertilized by scientists and used in restoration!

This was the first observed spawning event of any massive coral species in Broward County by our lab and we were so excited to share the experience with the team and the Thank you for all the hard work and late nights. We could not have done it without you!

An exciting update from the Restoration Hub team at NSU!

Join the Southeast Florida Coral Reef Restoration Hub this Sunday, June 5th at the Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science for a World Oceans Day 2022 celebration!

There will be representatives from each partner organization on-site from 11am - 4 pm to talk about what is being done to restore Florida’s Coral Reef and how you can help!

We hope to see you there!
Check out the link to learn more: https://www.frostscience.org/event/world-ocean-day/

University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science, SECORE International, Nova Southeastern University, The Florida Aquarium, and Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science

Join us this Sunday, June 5 from 11:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. for our World Ocean Day celebration, with special programming museum-wide that highlights the importance of a healthy ocean.

Discover the amazing work that scientists and organizations are doing to help save our reefs, protect our coastlines, and educate us about the importance of the ocean and the marine life that call it home. https://www.frostscience.org/event/world-ocean-day/

Come meet our scientists and see the research this Sunday (6/5) at the Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science!

Another update from our Restoration Hub research activities!