Nova Southeastern University - Coral Nursery Initiative

Nova Southeastern University’s Oceanographic Center researchers (NSUOC) are currently working to save the Threatened Staghorn coral from extinction by growing it in an off-shore coral nursery until it is large enough to be outplanted back to local reefs. Our goal is to grow enough corals in our nursery to outplant thousands of coral fragments per year back to South Florida reefs so that they may c

ontinue to grow, spawn, and help in replenishing the existing Staghorn population. As a branching coral, Staghorn grows quickly, building reef structure and providing shelter/habitat for many reef fish and critters. As part of this project, we will continue to study the survivorship and health of our nursery and outplanted corals, along with the best way to grow corals in a nursery. We will also study the changes in reef fish communities surrounding our newly outplanted corals as we assist in the recovery of Staghorn coral and overall restoration of local reefs. During our current efforts of growing over 3,000 corals in our nursery we have already been able to learn about how different individuals grow, survive and are even possibly resistant to disease. The addition of more corals to our nursery from this campaign will allow us to increase the capacity of our research on this threatened coral species so we can begin to answer questions like:

Which nursery structure is the best for raising (growing) corals? Are our nursery and outplanted corals spawning? What is the most beneficial way of outplanting corals: should we plant them close together in clusters or space them out? Staghorn coral is one of two coral species listed as Threatened by the US Endangered Species Act. It was listed in 2006 after surveys confirmed that the species had not recovered from the massive die-off of the 1970’s and 1980’s. Only a few populations of this crucial coral remain. By supporting this coral restoration project you are helping to build local reefs, preserving our valuable beaches, creating new habitat for thousands of reef critters and increasing the chances of Staghorn coral reproduction during their one spawning night a year! Please help us to spread the word, and thanks for visiting our page!