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Toxicity and Effectiveness of a New Two-Part Underwater Adhesive for Coral Restoration

  • Matthew Rojano

Student thesis: Master's ThesisMaster of Science

Abstract

As coral cover decreases around the world due to disease, bleaching events, and anthropogenic effects, coral restoration projects become increasingly important. A crucial part of many coral restoration projects is the attachment of corals to substrates in nurseries or reef substrates during outplanting. The effective anchoring of transplants is a critical phase in coral restoration and the adhesive used for attachment is crucial. Commonly used adhesives have several drawbacks: there are long mixing times, low substrate adhesion, and lengthy hardening times. To address these issues and provide an effective alternative for coral restoration activities, a new two-part Mixed Adhesive was developed by TRI Austin. This new adhesive can be dispensed underwater using a caulk-type applicator gun and static mixing tips and has a hardening time of approximately 10 seconds. However, it was necessary to determine potential aquatic toxicity of the adhesive prior to utilization in coral restoration activities. A preliminary exposure to determine experimental design and four static dose-response assays were used to examine the potential toxicity of Part A, Part B, the Mixed Adhesive in contact with coral tissue, along with a second Mixed Adhesive experiment of no contact with coral tissue vs. direct contact. Part A of the Mixed Adhesive had no significant effects on corals, while Part B was found to be highly toxic and causes 100% mortality within five hours. The fully mixed adhesive had no significant effects on corals and was easily dispensed underwater. The new Mixed Adhesive shows potential as a new tool in coral restoration in comparison to current adhesives.
Date of AwardDec 7 2022
Original languageEnglish
SupervisorDorothy-Ellen A. Renegar (Supervisor), David S. Gilliam (Advisor) & Bernhard Riegl (Advisor)

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