PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Joshua Madin
Graduate fellow: Jon G. Ehrenberg
Research Track: Island Sustainability and Resilience

Coral reef ecosystems, the foundation of tropical marine life, are severely impacted by marine heatwaves, sea-level rise, and pollution, accelerating their degradation. Restoration efforts are crucial, with micro-fragmentation in an aquaculture facility being a promising technique where small fragments are induced to fuse and grow faster than parent colonies. However, smaller fragments face high initial mortality, presenting a trade-off for practitioners.

This project aims to optimize micro-fragmentation by combining it with using corals of opportunity to outplant on specifically designed concrete modules. The central goal is to determine the optimal combinations of module design (varying in structural complexity) and coral growth form to promote rapid fragment fusion and robust survival. The methodology involves an experimental approach, using both ex-situ tank trials and in-situ reef deployments in Hawaiʻi to track fragment growth, survival, and fusion rates over one year. Furthermore, the in-situ experiment will monitor surrounding reef biodiversity and biomass to assess the ecological benefits of increasing structural complexity through outplanting. Ultimately, this research will provide local restoration groups with a tested, evidence-based framework to bolster their efforts and enhance the long-term resilience of Hawaiʻi’s coral reefs.