CRCP-Acropora palmata fragment outplants: evaluating the performance in the Upper Florida Keys from 2014 to 2016

Much progress has been made in the last decade in the propagation of Acropora spp. corals for restoration. Since 2008, much effort in Florida and US Caribbean territories has focused on field nursery propagation of staghorn coral (A. cervicornis) and developing science and policy to advance the use of this material in restoring reef populations. Much less culture and virtually no planning/outplanting effort has so far been directed toward elkhorn coral (A. palmata ), though its habitat distribution, growth form, and genetic structure are markedly distinct from its congener Two separate experiments conducted in collaboration with Coral Restoration Foundation (non-governmental organization) to test aspects of performance for nursery-cultured, outplanted fragments of elkhorn coral, Acropora palmata. The first experiment tests for differences in performance between two sizes of outplant fragments, controlling for a single genet and across three fore-reef sites. The second, two-factor experiment compares the performance of four separate genets in two habitat types (fore-reef versus nearshore patch reefs). Data includes repeated surveys of fragment size (for growth) and condition (e.g., snail predation, bleaching, partial mortality) over a couple of years