Coral Protection and Restoration Program — Funded Project Update: UM

The Coral Protection and Restoration Program (CPR) continues to administer state and federal funding to implement priority reef management and research objectives. One funded project led by the University of Miami (UM), titled A Meta-Analysis Integrating Field Data to Quantify Corallivorous Fish Impacts on Coral Outplant Success through a Spatiotemporal Predation Pressure Index, is using coral-baited remote underwater video systems to test the predictability of coral predation. The goal of this project is to be able to predict hotspots of predation by corallivorous fish, such as parrotfish and butterflyfish, on massive coral outplants. The data collected in this project, along with previously collected predation data, will be used to create a predation pressure index to predict areas where coral outplants will face increased levels of predation. This index can be used to inform restoration site selection and hopefully improve the efficacy of restoration efforts. 

The coral-baited remote underwater video system with fragments of Montastraea cavernosa, Pseudodiploria strigosa, and P. clivosa, deployed at Paradise Reef to capture fish predation using GoPro timelapses. A still image from the GoPro timelapse showing a hungry stoplight parrotfish snacking on one of the coral fragments.