Coral Reef Construction - Live Structural Aggregation Experiment

Much research has been conducted on reef restoration methods such as biological restoration and structural restoration, however with the latter this usually involves the construction of artificial reefs, submersion of wrecks, or deployment / relocation of rocks or dead coral. In each case the objective is to provide a suitable substrate in order for coral to adhere to and therefore colonize.

 On the 19th of November 2019, Tokoriki Diving began a coral reef construction experiment titled the Live Structural Aggregation Experiment, or LSA Experiment, in order to study the effectiveness and viability of constructing a live coral reef.

 How the LSA Experiment differs to other restoration research is that rather than use bare substrate to create new reef, it aims to relocate preexisting living patches of reef scattered on the shallow sand flats beyond the fringing reef of Tokoriki Island, into a single large aggregation of coral reef.

 The rational behind this is that as the reef area increases and interconnects, so does the complexity of the reef system and available habitat which therefore results in an increase in area for food, protection and reproduction resulting in an increase in species diversity and population abundance.

 Over the coming months the objective of the study will be to fill a predetermined area of previously bare sand flat with fragments of living coral, and then monitor the biodiversity and abundance levels within the study area over an extended period of time to observe and record its effect.