March 2022
Research and identification of main coral species documented in Portuguese coasts classified by their orders: Scleractinia, Antipatharia, Alcyonacea, Zoantharia and Penatulacea. Three categories were identified: vulnerable, protected and abundant coral species. According to the taxonomy found, it is possible to determine characteristics of their ecosystem, identify their habitat and other species that depend on corals.
1/1/2019
Most documented fish species associated to rocky habitats or artificial reefs were revised. Natural and Artificial reefs were studied to identify the most common species found on those ecosystems. Nazaré Artificial Reef (2010), Faro/Ancão Artificial Reef (2002), Arrabida natural park and Pedra do Valado (natural reef in Algarve) were the local areas where the information was obtained. Two categories were identified: Fish species with high commercial value and abundant species.
1/1/2019
A review of artificial reefs manufactured with 3D printing technologies around the world was formulated. Projects by different authors, companies and associations, were revised from scientific papers and international publications. A wide variety of materials and processes were used to manufacture the artificial structures. The main revised objectives intend to rehabilitate degraded areas, promote marine biodiversity, transplant coral fragments and enhance the value of underwater tourism. An interactive map was developed in this website to show the most recent projects developed in the world.
1/1/2019
A review paper was submitted to the Ecological Engineering Journal intitle “Artificial Reefs Through Additive Manufacturing: A Review of their Design, Effectiveness and Fabrication Process for Marine Ecosystem Restoration”
1/1/2019
The objective is to prove how the following materials selected affect, change or promote coral settlement and post-settlement growth of cold-water coral species and to obtain statistical data on the variables to be studied: chemical composition, surface texture and morphology in relation to the growth of corals under study and other organisms that may inhabit the substrate during the experimental study.
Four particulate additives were selected to create mortar mixes due to their chemical characteristics, for contributing to the circular economy and because they are potentially favorable for coral propagation and their ecosystems. The raw materials were: limestone, mussel shells, fossil coral skeleton and dolomite sand.
1/1/2019
Fragments of fossil coral skeleton, obtained from aquarium industry are used. In any case are used live coral samples for processing this raw material. Calcium carbonate obtained from fossil corals opens the hypothesis of being potentially favorable for coral settlement because some studies have shown that coral larvae (swimming in seawater) generally settle on biogenic carbonates such as dead coral rubble covered by coralline crustose algae (Heyward and Negri, 1999; Massé et al., 2018). Morphological and chemical composition characteristics of dead corals substratum may have significant influence on coral recruitment that will be addressed in this study.
To remove organic remains and old substrates attached from skeleton samples, an ultrasonic cleaning bath was performed.
1/1/2019
In previous works, substrates were developed to validate coral growth in horizontal expansion, promoting a total coverage of coralline algae and the coral specie in question. In this study, in addition to horizontal growth, vertical growth will be examined, for this reason the morphology of the substrates will have an increase in height to strengthen the union between the coral base and the substrate and to protect the first vertical growth phase. Cavities are incorporated into the general morphology to promote coralline algae and other organisms’ settlement.
1/1/2019
In asexual reproduction process by fragmentation, one of the biggest challenges is to guarantee the stability of the fragment into the substrate. To avoid the detachment of the coral, some mechanisms have been developed to join both parts and to keep the fragment base secure within the substrate. Texture surface has been studied
1/1/2019
Two simultaneous tests are being studied to analyze how chemical composition and morphology affect coral settlement and growth.
1/1/2019
A study of pH measurement was carried out to analyze the variations of the parameters in seawater that may potentially affect on the coral larvae survival. A periodical measurement of pH, temperature and salinity was developed.