Florida’s coral reef tract is living infrastructure. As the third largest barrier reef in the world, it stretches over 350 miles and provides biodiversity for countless fish and coral species, while serving as an economic powerhouse, generating billions of dollars through fishing and tourism. Coral reefs are some of the most productive ecosystems on Earth, providing structure and habitat for thousands of marine species. Yet the functions of this delicate ecosystem and reefs globally are at risk.
For decades Florida’s corals have been hit by many threats, from hurricanes and water quality issues to diseases and coral bleaching. These pressures have pushed the coral reef to the tipping point where they can no longer provide the same value that they once did, at least not without a lot of help.
Coral renewal efforts have existed in the Florida Keys for over two decades. An early pioneer in the restoration world, Ken Nediymer, helped put coral renewal in the Florida Keys on the map. Nearly 20 years later, he started a new venture, Reef Renewal USA. With a vision of renewing the reefs, Reef Renewal USA is producing and outplanting resilient corals at an unprecedented scale. Reef Renewal USA is working to accomplish this through science, collaboration, and innovation, with one key strategy being increased efficiency in how and where corals are grown.
For years, corals destined for reef renewal have been grown in offshore coral nurseries and in land-based tanks. Offshore nurseries propagate coral for outplanting, while land-based systems support propagation, research, and reproduction. Reef Renewal USA is advancing both approaches. Using staff with an aquaculture mindset, a new facility designed to produce the large numbers of corals needed to renew the reefs is being brought online.
The Tampa Bay Coral Farm in Ruskin, Florida utilizes several 30,000-gallon tanks for large scale coral production. Using corals originating from the Florida Keys, the team at the coral farm grows, fragments and returns corals to the Keys for outplanting. The coral farm will also include dedicated space for research and reproduction, both of which will assist in the mission of identifying and creating the resilient corals of the future.
From the farm, corals will be transported to the Florida Keys, where they can be transferred to any of Reef Renewal USA’s offshore nurseries or land-based holding facilities. By maintaining a network of land-based holding systems throughout the Florida Keys, an efficient transportation pipeline enables the movement of large amounts of coral from the Tampa Bay Coral Farm to the reef tract. From these holding tanks, corals are transferred to offshore nurseries for acclimatization to reef conditions before being outplanted directly onto the reefs. The transportation cycle can then begin again.
Reef conditions vary dramatically throughout the Florida Keys. The Upper Keys generally experience clearer, calmer, and more moderate conditions, while the Lower Keys experience greater temperature extremes, higher turbidity and more challenging water conditions. While these differences present challenges to large-scale reef renewal efforts, they also create opportunities for differentiation in nursery functions and use.
Reef Renewal USA has begun embracing this separation of purpose and will continue to leverage the natural variation in nursery conditions. Because the Lower Keys experience more extremes in terms of water temperatures, the nursery located just inshore of Looe Key provides an excellent testing ground for thermal tolerance observations and evaluation. By exposing both new and existing genotypes to these environmental extremes, researchers can better understand which individuals are most likely to survive on the reefs.
These nursery observations, combined with genetic testing and experimental designs, help identify which corals are the “winners” and which are the “losers”. These “winners” can be selectively bred in hopes of producing future generations with similar resilient characteristics. At the same time, these findings inform outplanting strategies, helping ensure that large-scale efforts focus on corals best suited for long-term success on the reef.
Reef Renewal USA’s Upper Keys nursery near Tavernier experiences less severe environmental conditions, making it well suited for scaled production and in-water gene banking of coral genotypes. Likewise, species such as staghorn and elkhorn coral which struggle to survive in the Lower Keys, are propagated with a strong emphasis on reproduction. These large nursery-grown colonies provide hope for the future survival of these species throughout the Florida Keys.
In addition to these two large regional nurseries, Reef Renewal USA also maintains several pop-up nurseries located adjacent to major reef systems. These nurseries allow for an efficient direct-to-reef outplanting strategy while reducing transportation time and handling.
Maintaining multiple coral nurseries, with distinct functions based on location allows Reef Renewal USA to renew reefs more effectively. From a land-based coral farm capable of producing hundreds of thousands of corals to offshore nurseries focused on testing resilient genotypes and maintaining genetically diverse coral populations for reproduction, Reef Renewal USA is positioning itself to be able to achieve its mission.
Through these innovative techniques and collaboration with partners across the coral renewal community, the Florida Coral Reef Tract stands its best chance of continuing to provide ecological, economic, and cultural value for future generations.
