Coral Reef Restoration Monitoring

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Coral reefs are some of the most diverse ecosystems on the planet, providing shelter to an estimated one third of all marine organisms, most of which are found nowhere else. These reefs support over 8000 fish species worldwide, which are an important source of protein and income for fishing communities globally but especially in the Global South. However, they are threatened by human impact such as pollution, development, unsustainable fishing practices, climate change, and ocean acidification. These threats have created significant losses in hard “reef-building” corals, such as staghorn corals, which form the basis of the ecosystem and formerly dominated Caribbean reefs. This loss of reef-building corals has a negative impact on fish abundance, species richness, and diversity. It is estimated that we could lose 90% of corals by 2050 without large-scale intervention.

There are many strategies aimed at preventing the global degradation of reefs, with everything from marine protected areas to throwing tires and glass bottles onto a reef to provide 3D habitat after extensive reef damage. Coral reef restoration is one of these interventions – it is still a stopgap solution, but is widely used because of how quickly we are losing corals. In the past decade, over 258 million USD have been invested in coral reef restoration projects across 56 countries, mainly by philanthropic organizations, governments, and the private sector. One of the places reef restoration is most widespread is in the Caribbean, where coral restoration projects are mainly run by NGOs. Unfortunately, there is a lack of data and resources to assess the impact of these projects in combating the global deterioration of reefs. Over 50% of coral restoration projects are monitored for less than a year, and almost 90% only use coral growth and survival as a success metric, rather than incorporating broader ecosystem-level changes.

For my undergraduate thesis, I partnered with the Environmental Research Institute Charlotteville (ERIC) in Tobago to explore more effective ways to think about coral restoration success and ensure continued monitoring of ERIC’s restoration sites. After identifying this community partner organization through the HEDGE Lab at Middlebury, I applied for and received a Cross-Cultural Community Engagement Fellowship, budgeted funding to provide ERIC with resources, and planned travel logistics. Onsite, I collected data on fish biodiversity in restoration sites by deploying remote underwater videos, and processed 25 hours of footage by identifying over 100 species of fish. ERIC identified a need for computational support, so to allow for long-term monitoring of restoration, I wrote an R script that outputs figures visualizing fish community change over time, enabling them to continue analyzing the results of their restoration project as they accumulate new data. Additionally, I performed analyses from which I made recommendations to make protocols more time and cost efficient and study design more meaningful.

While onsite, I also helped with outreach by presenting at local schools about threats to coral reefs and the importance of restoration efforts and by writing blog posts and press releases. I additionally built and cared for coral restoration nurseries in collaboration with community members to aid in continued restoration efforts.