Coral restoration is only practical when local human pressure levels are low
- 1Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America
- 2Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Abstract
Coral reefs are threatened by interacting local (fishing, coastal development) and global (climate change) stressors that degrade coral cover and reduce overall reef biodiversity. Adding coral to the reef (coral restoration) is gaining prominence as a management strategy, however it is unclear whether restoration alone can ensure self-sustaining high coral cover (i.e., > 30% coral cover) under interacting stressors. We assess how much restoration is needed for a self-sustaining healthy coral reef using a mathematical model and real-world restoration case studies. We find that a reef with low macroalgal cover and high coral recruitment requires low levels of restoration to ensure self-sustaining high coral cover. As nutrient enrichment and fishing increase, more restoration is required to ensure self-sustaining high coral cover. Thus, if the reef is facing high local human stressors, restoration is unlikely to ensure self-sustaining high coral cover, suggesting that under such conditions conservation resources should first be allocated towards reducing the impact of stressors, prior to any restoration.
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BibTeX
@article{brookson2026coral,
title = {{Coral restoration is only practical when local human pressure levels are low}},
author = {Cole Baird Brookson and Ariel Greiner},
journal = {PLOS One},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0355728},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0355728},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Coral restoration is only practical when local human pressure levels are low
AU - Cole Baird Brookson
AU - Ariel Greiner
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/02
JO - PLOS One
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0355728
UR - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0355728
AB - Coral reefs are threatened by interacting local (fishing, coastal development) and global (climate change) stressors that degrade coral cover and reduce overall reef biodiversity. Adding coral to the reef (coral restoration) is gaining prominence as a management strategy, however it is unclear whether restoration alone can ensure self-sustaining high coral cover (i.e., > 30% coral cover) under interacting stressors. We assess how much restoration is needed for a self-sustaining healthy coral reef using a mathematical model and real-world restoration case studies. We find that a reef with low macroalgal cover and high coral recruitment requires low levels of restoration to ensure self-sustaining high coral cover. As nutrient enrichment and fishing increase, more restoration is required to ensure self-sustaining high coral cover. Thus, if the reef is facing high local human stressors, restoration is unlikely to ensure self-sustaining high coral cover, suggesting that under such conditions conservation resources should first be allocated towards reducing the impact of stressors, prior to any restoration.
SN - 1932-6203
ER -