Yan Zhi Yap1, Annie Chew Ann Nee1, Peter Peter Todd1
1National University of Singapore, Singapore
Transplanting corals on to coastal defense structures is an emerging ecological engineering strategy. While past research has focused on identifying suitable species, there is limited knowledge on optimizing seawall designs to accommodate coral transplants. This study investigates the effects of three slope angles (0°, 45°, and 90°) on the photo-physiological health, growth, morphology and survival of Dipsastraea cf. lizardensis, Platygyra spp. and Porites lutea transplants intertidally at 0.5 - 0.6 m above chart datum (CD). After 4.5 mo post transplantation, mortality, growth, coral morphometrics, photosynthetic efficiency (Fv/Fm), total Symbiodiniaceae, and total chlorophyll a were recorded. Results indicate that transplants on 0° slope angle grew significantly less and had significantly lower Symbiodiniaceae count and chlorophyll a per cm2 as compared to transplants on 45° and 90°. Dipsastraea cf. lizardensis and Platygyra spp. are potential candidates for transplantation at 0.5 - 0.6 m above CD, but not P. lutea due to high mortality. These findings suggest that future seawalls that are designed to incorporate coral transplants should consider steeper slope profiles (45° – 90°), although the optimal slope angle is ultimately species-dependent. It is also crucial to balance maximizing transplant area and ensuring the survival, growth, and health of coral transplants.
Biography
Yan Zhi is a PhD student in the Experimental Marine Ecology Laboratory at the National University of Singapore, specializing in coral reef ecology and ecological engineering. His research focuses on optimizing the implementation of hybrid ecological engineering solutions for artificial coastal defense structures, with a particular emphasis on improving seawall designs to better accommodate coral transplantation.