(Madagascar) The use of settlement plates around a permanent reserve and heavily fished site: is coral larval settlement a limiting factor in coral recovery?

Fieldwork in Madagascar required.

Needs quite a large budget but I think could be a really interesting project to help assess recovery potential of Velondriake reefs and ascertain reasons why near shore reefs are not showing signs of recovery (could also compare this with the Thomas site to help determine other factors which may be influencing this reef). Idea would be to place settlement plates around the recruitment complex to determine direction of larval transport and to determine whether Recruitment can act as a seed reef for the rest of Velondriake. Compare with settlement plates along the near shore fringing reef and with PIT benthic cover data and coral recruit data. Possibly more suited to a PhD or an MRes student than a normal MSc.

Project Requirements

• Needs 3-6 months fieldwork (preliminary study looking at initial recruits).

• Lit review of the use of settlement plates, theory behind them and possible materials for construction

Student Requirements

• At least AOW SCUBA certification

• Knowledge of coral genera