Active restoration of a long-lived octocoral drives rapid functional recovery in a temperate reef

Authors: Yanis Zentner, Joaquim Garrabou, Núria Margarit, Graciel·la Rovira, Daniel Gómez-Gras, Cristina Linares

Published: 2025-03-12

DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.ado5249

Source: Full article


Abstract

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