Coral Restoration Talk: 11 December

December 11, 2018

CCMI’s final 2018 Reef Lecture on Grand Cayman will be held on Tuesday, 11 December at the Cracked Conch, beginning at 6 pm. 

Acroporid corals provide a significant and unique ecological function for Caribbean coral reef ecosystems. Staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornis) provide much of the reef’s structural complexity due to their three-dimensional branching growth pattern and rapid growth rates, which are unparalleled in the Caribbean. This allowed the species to once dominate the fore reef spur and groove areas throughout the Caribbean and Atlantic. This species’ demise over the past 30 years has threatened the continued function and diversity of reef ecosystems as we know it.

Since 2012, the propagation and restoration of staghorn coral in Little Cayman has been a major focus of research efforts at the Central Caribbean Marine Institute. CCMI Science and Education Manager Katie Correia will share some of the successes in coral nursery restoration this year including the establishment of a new nursery site and genetic repository on Little Cayman, work on bleaching acclimatization of nursery corals, outplanting methodologies, 3D modeling of coral growth and results from a rare split spawning event observed this summer.

Space is limited, tickets can be reserved HERE. CCMI’s outreach in the International Year of the Reef is supported by Foster’s Food Fair IGA, the Cayman Islands Brewery, and Harneys.

Reef Lecture Series:
Coral Restoration

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