The Coral Restoration Consortium is hosting a series of webinars and discussions focused on Caribbean coral restoration. The first webinar in the series highlights coral spawning research and larval propagation techniques being used in the Caribbean. The recording includes presentations from researchers, Kristen Marhaver, Valerie Chamberland and Nicole Fogarty, on the benefits, successes and challenges of coral spawning work followed by a Q&A and discussion session.

As coral restoration programs are developed, a great deal of thought goes into site selection and design of nurseries and outplant sites to ensure success. Until this past summer, one of the considerations, “can our sites withstand a direct hit from a hurricane” has been mostly theoretical. Hear experts from Florida and the Caribbean discuss impacts from hurricanes Irma and Maria, what worked and what didn’t, and what they will do in the future to mitigate impacts both to coral nurseries and outplant sites. This Coral Restoration Consortium webinar features six presentations followed by a panel Q&A session. Speakers include: Kemit-Amon Lewis, Shannon Gore, Sean Griffin, Kerry Maxwell, Jessica Levy, and Dalton Hesley. View the webinar presentations. This webinar series is co-hosted by the Coral Restoration Consortium and the Reef Resilience Network.

The Coral Restoration Consortium’s Larval Propagation Working Group hosted an information session on the reproductive biology of the common Caribbean brain coral Diploria labyrinthiformis. This species is predicted to spawn between May 16-21 and monthly until October. The presentation included an overview of the grooved brain coral’s reproductive timing with detailed spawning predictions for different areas of the Caribbean followed by guidelines to monitor spawning, collect gametes, and rear larvae of this species, whether for research or restoration purposes. Dr. Valérie Chamberland and Dr. Anastazia Banaszak presented information about the grooved brain coral’s reproduction and suggestions to optimize gamete collection and larval rearing. The presentation (PDF) was followed by a 45 minutes Q & A session

This symposium was live streamed as part of the Coral Restoration Consortium webinar series in conjunction with The Geomar Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel and “The Future Ocean” cluster. Speakers shared information on new approaches for the conservation of coral reefs such as assisted colonization and assisted evolution and synthetic biology. Explore and view the symposium presentations. This webinar series is co-hosted by the Coral Restoration Consortium and the Reef Resilience Network.