Coral settlement module designs for scalable reef restoration

Abstract

The global coral reef crisis has prompted restoration initiatives worldwide. Targeting the coral larval stage is among the most scalable approaches as recruitment operates over large spatial scales. It thus represents one of the best levers for coral population recovery. Active coral larval seeding has shown considerable success, and passive substrate engineering has emerged as a promising complementary strategy. Coral settlement modules featuring helix recesses have increased settlement and survival by up to 80-fold on small experimental units, but whether these results translate to tools deployable at the scale of thousands of units, remains yet an open question. Here, we transferred structural features from successful experimental coral settlement designs into production-ready concrete modules to (i) evaluate coral recruitment on five designs at four reef sites differing in flow regime and coral cover over one year; (ii) compare production-scale performance against experimental clay modules and natural reef substrate; and (iii) identify key parameters for large-scale production. The helix recess geometry of coral settlement modules outperformed the featureless control design approximately 20-fold and exceeded natural reef recruitment at least 3- to 32-fold. The helix features were successfully transferred from experimental clay to production-scale concrete modules, yielding comparable settlement densities when standardized to crevice length, which proved to be the biologically relevant unit of available habitat. Production feasibility was demonstrated by producing 690 modules for deployment on a hybrid reef on the west side of Oahu, Hawaii. The passive coral larval recruitment approach presented here could substantially improve the logistical and economic feasibility of large-scale coral reef restoration. This approach requires neither coral larval rearing, handling, nor coral fragmenting, and is compatible with active larval seeding where genetic diversity or larvae supply are limiting factors. The coral settlement modules can be cast in standardized concrete molds at precast facilities. Modules have demonstrated consistent coral recruitment enhancement across reef environments with contrasting flow and coral cover. Deploying mixed arrays of helix-recess structures with designs offering multi-level complexity and three-dimensional rugosity maximizes outcomes for coral, fish, and invertebrate communities simultaneously. Site selection is the most critical deployment decision and should consider larval supply, hydrodynamics, and substrate stability which drive recruitment outcomes more than design choice alone. The modules offer a range of application potential, ranging from integration into existing coastal infrastructure over stand-alone reef restoration approaches, to substrate-consolidating interconnected arrangements.