Study on attachment methods, retention and growth of transplanting coral

In order to find effective methods for coral restoration, we conducted experimental coral Transplantation on 20 limestone substrates set in the moat of Kuta in Bali Island, Indonesia, in September 2003. Coral fragments of about 5 cm length were prepared by cutting branches from colonies of Acropora sp., Pocillopora sp. and Montipora sp. growing in the moat. After one day of acclimation in the moat, these coral pieces were attached to both the horizontal and vertical surfaces of the substrates. We used 3kind of materials on the substrate to attach the coral, a steel plate with 1 fixed point, fishing line with 2 fixed points and a wire spring with 2 fixed points. We monitored the transplanted coral intermittently for more than 2 years, by photographing with a digital camera, recording the retention and survival of corals, their attachment to the substrates and the width and height of the coral pieces. We found that: 1) the cumulative self-attachment to the substrate for Acropora sp. was the highest among the 3 species. The proportion of fragments that had self-attached was more than 85% on average after two month of transplantation for Acropora sp., whereas it was between 49% and 64% after three month for Pocillopora sp. and Montipora sp. 2) The retention of corals using the wire spring was the highest in Acropora sp. 3) The retention and survival were almost the same for those fragments between the horizontal and vertical surfaces of substrate. 4) Acropora sp. of 5 cm in length reached in average 39.4 cm in width and 28.8 cm in height in 24 months. 5) 30 to 50% of the whole colony of Acropora sp. bleached due to high water temperatures around March 2005, but they recovered after the water temperature lowered below 30°C.