Action Summary:
Algae were transplanted over 1-3 days by cable-tying individuals in natural densities (15 algae/m2) to 6 x 2m2 plastic mats per site that had been attached to the rocky reef. Mats were placed on top of bare rock or turfing corallines, 0.5 - 5m apart depending on substrata availability. Individuals from the two donor sites were evenly distributed (mixed) across each of the mats at each site, and identified using cable ties of different colours.
Lessons Learned:
Restoration was successful, and crayweed recruits were also observed.
Project Outcomes:
Between 13-40% of transplanted adults remained in restored sites after 6 months and c. 8% remained across all sites after 9 months. At 6 months, survival of adults sourced from BB (31.3%, SE 3.56%) was significantly higher than those sourced from SP (19.1%, SE 3.56). Most of the remaining algae had higher levels of epibiosis than when transplanted (<5%), with significantly higher epibiosis on adults sourced from SP (30.24%, SE 3.30%) than from BB (22.92%, SE 3.30%). Both of these patterns were consistent across all sites.
