Data and code from: Active restoration of a long-lived octocoral drives rapid functional recovery in a temperate reef [Dataset]

Whether restoration actions achieve full ecological recovery is still debated. This is particularly controversial in the marine realm, where the success of restoration is mostly evaluated in terms of the short-term survival of transplanted organisms. In view of this, we combined population and trait-based approaches to explore the long-term effectiveness of active restoration of a key Mediterranean octocoral. For this purpose, an assemblage with restored Corallium rubrum colonies was monitored over ten years and compared with a nearby reference site. Our results revealed growth of the transplanted colonies followed by a change in the functional structure (i.e., dominance and diversity of traits) of the restored assemblage. Interestingly, this change was related not only to the development of the coral but also to the arrival and/or increase of species with different traits. Overall, our findings provide an example of how active restoration of long-lived octocorals can be an effective tool for recovering highly high-diverse coralligenous assemblages at decadal timescales

This work was supported by grant RTI2018-095346-B-I00 HEATMED funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by” ERDF/UE;” grant TED2021-131622B-I00 CORFUN funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by “European Union NextGenerationEU”/PRTR;” the Public agreement PTOP- 2017-130 Seguiment de la Biodiversitat marina funded by Generalitat de Catalunya; the Public agreement PTOP- 2021-3 Seguiment de la Biodiversitat marina funded by Generalitat de Catalunya public agreement; the grant SEP-210597628 Futuremares funded by UE H2020; grant MED0200736 MPA4Change funded by Interreg EuroMED Euro and by UE Grant ICREA Academia 2019 funded by Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (to C.L.); grant Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence CEX2019-000928-S funded by MCIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 (to J.G.); grant FPU20/03574 funded by MCIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 (to Y.Z.); and Grant 2021 SGR 01073 funded by Departament de Recerca i Universitats, Generalitat de Catalunya

Peer reviewed