Meeting Abstract
In response to the Caribbean wide decline in coral cover, many researchers have put their efforts towards transplanting reef building coral species in hopes that they will replenish these ecosystems. Previous studies suggest that these transplants are susceptible to competition from macroalgae, which can out-compete corals for essentials such as nutrients and space. Studies have also found that parrotfish play an important role in the overall health of coral reefs through their grazing behavior. In order to test the impacts of macroalgal competition and parrotfish grazing on coral transplants, we compared the survival of two species of transplanted corals on seven reefs in the middle Florida Keys over one year. In the summer of 2013, six Siderastrea siderea and six Porites asteroides coral fragments (10-75 cm2) were epoxied to bare substrate at each of the seven reefs. Each fragment was caged in either an open or closed Vexar mesh cage (2500 cm2). Our results show that the abundance of Scarus parrotfishes were negatively correlated with macroalgae abundance and positively correlated with coral condition in cages left open to grazing activity. These preliminary results suggest that parrotfish grazing may positively benefit corals in the Florida Keys. These results may help us to understand the conditions necessary for successful coral restoration.
