In an era of coral reef decline, coral restoration is receiving increasing attention, with many recent developments in culture and transplant techniques. However, how the ecological processes operating on coral reefs influence the success of restoration efforts remains largely unexplored, particularly during the first months after outplanting which are considered crucial for colony survival. Herbivory is a key process well-known to maintain a coral-dominated state, and in the Caribbean Sea, the long-spine urchin Diadema antillarum is thought to aid coral success by removing algae from seafloor substrate that might otherwise outcompete coral outplants. In this study, we conducted a three-month manipulative experiment in southeastern Dominican Republic to test the effect of Diadema antillarum density on percent living tissue and growth rate of outplanted fragments of the critically endangered coral species Acropora cervicornis. Increasing herbivore density had no significant effect on coral survival or growth but did increase the percent of living tissue when urchin abundance was 3× ambient levels. The greatest growth and survival outcomes were instead related to the initial size of the outplanted coral and were reduced through predation by the fireworm Hermodice carunculata. Our results highlight the potential importance of considering ecological processes like herbivory and predation to maximize the success of ecological restoration.

在珊瑚礁衰退的时代，随着文化和移植技术的最新发展，珊瑚的修复正受到越来越多的关注。但是，在珊瑚礁上进行的生态过程如何影响恢复工作的成功，很大程度上仍未得到探索，特别是在移栽后的最初几个月中，这对于殖民地的生存至关重要。食草是众所周知的维持珊瑚为主状态的关键过程，在加勒比海，人们认为长脊顽童“ Diadema antillarum”通过从海底基质中去除藻类来帮助珊瑚成功，否则藻类可能会胜过珊瑚。在这项研究中，我们在多米尼加共和国东南部进行了为期三个月的操作性实验，以测试敌敌草（Diadema antillarum）的效果极度濒危珊瑚角刺珊瑚藻（Acropora cervicornis）的生物密度和离体碎片的生长速率。草食动物密度的增加对珊瑚的存活或生长没有显着影响，但是当海胆丰度为周围环境的3倍时，食草动物的密度确实增加了活体组织的百分比。相反，最大的生长和生存结果与被移出的珊瑚的初始大小有关，并由于萤火虫Hermodice carunculata的捕食而减少。我们的结果强调了考虑食草和捕食等生态过程以最大程度地提高生态恢复成功的潜在重要性。