Figure 1.
Staghorn fragments propagated within in situ nurseries.
A) Cinder-block platform used to propagate corals in Florida, B) coral outplant attached to a reef using a masonry nail, epoxy, and plastic ties, C) A-frame used to propagate corals in the Dominican Republic, D) rope nursery.
Figure 2.
Growth and productivity of staghorn fragments.
Annual growth (A) and annual productivity (B) of staghorn fragments.
Table 1.
Annual growth and productivity (± S.D.) of staghorn fragments in Florida and the DR.
Figure 3.
Productivity of staghorn fragments by coral genotype.
Annual productivity of staghorn genotypes from Florida (A) and the Dominican Republic (B). Numbers in parentheses are sample sizes for each genotype. Grey bars in (A) are the two genotypes dominated by clade C algal symbionts. All other genotypes, including those in the DR were dominated by clade A. The coral genotype from the DR dominated by clade C was represented by only 3 surviving fragments and thus not included in the analyses. The images are representative of slow- (left), medium- (center), and fast-growing (right) genotypes after 1 year in the nursery. Pair-wise comparisons revealed that only ELKHORN and ACE 6/STEPH had significantly different productivity values in Florida, while only B and W/B/W/Y had significantly different productivity values in the DR (Tukey-Kramer test, p<0.05).
Figure 4.
Effects of pruning on nursery corals.
A) I: Fragments after initial collection, II: fragments 8 months after initial collection, III: fragments immediately after pruning (12 months after initial collection), IV: fragments 8 months after pruning. B) Annual productivity of fragments before pruning (after initial collection) and after pruning. Significant difference in productivity were found between groups (t test, p<0.05).