Growth Rate of Acropora nobilis Attached to Table Type Framework

抄録

The Municipality of Panglao has been experiencing constant pressures caused by human and natural factor that affect the resources within the municipality particularly the reefs. Reefs are underwater structures created by the growth of corals. It has the highest gross of primary productivity in marine systems. However, sustainable practices to maintain the state and well-being of reefs have been largely ignored. Transplanting coral fragments or ramets is one way of restoring damaged portion of reefs. Hence, this study aims to determine the survival and growth rates of ramets in a table type framework deployed at 5, 10, and 20 m depth in three months. Coral fragments found scattered on the reef bottoms were cut into smaller fragments (ramets). There were 16 ramets attached in a single coral nursery unit. One hundred forty three representing three levels of depths and three replicates per depth. Monitoring was conducted monthly. The survivorship of Acropora nobilis was found out to be at 88.7%. Ramets had overgrown the plastic cable ties as well as steel bars indicating three dimensional growths. The growth rate of the ramets were high but there was no significant difference found with depth (p=0.066). The highest growth rate was found out to be at 20 m, with a mean growth rate of 0.81 cm mo^-1. The high survival and growth rate of A. nobilis proves that it is a good species for coral reef restoration in Panglao, Bohol.