Ligson, Charlon A.Cabaitan, Patrick C.2025-06-062021-04-19Ligson, C. A., & Cabaitan, P. C. (2021). Survival and sexual maturity of sexually propagated <i>Acropora verweyi</i> corals 4 years after outplantation. <i>Restoration Ecology</i>, <i>29</i>(5), Article e13363.1061-29711526-100X10.1111/rec.13363https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14697/536The authors are grateful to Ronald de Guzman, Francis Kenith Adolfo,and Renato Adolfo for the field and hatchery assistance.This study was supported by a grant from the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic, and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology to PCC. The authors are also grateful to Prof. Peter Harrison for providing CAL a research assistantship opportunity and for additional logistical support through an Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic, and Natural Resources Research and Development.Most coral reef restoration efforts are carried out over 1–2 years, and few have assessed long-term (over 3 years) outcomes. Although studies of outplantation of sexually propagated corals have reported promising initial results, few studies have followed outplanted corals to maturity. Here, we monitored sexually propagated <i>Acropora verweyi</i> corals for 4 years post-outplantation to determine their survival and sexual maturity. These corals were outplanted when 4 months old in two size classes (small = 0.3–0.5 cm; large = 1.0–1.5 cm) at two sites in the northwestern Philippines. Four years after outplantation, the 240 colonies of <i>A. verweyi</i> exhibited 17.9% survival, with mean diameters ranging from 7.48–26.8 cm. Most of the surviving outplants were gravid (81.4% of the 43 colonies) with mean diameters of at least 11.8 cm. Higher survivorship was detected in the initial large size class outplants than in the small ones at the natal site, but not at the other site. However, 4 years after outplantation, there was no significant difference in terms of geometric mean diameter between the initial size classes or between the sites. Results show that 4-month-old outplants of sexually propagated corals can survive until sexual maturity and are already capable of contributing gametes for the potential recovery of degraded coral communities at age 4 years.enCoral reefsCoralsCoral reef restorationCoral reefs and islandsSurvivalCoral reef conservationArticleSDG 14 - Life below watercoralscoral reef restorationcoral reefssexual maturitysurvivalcoral reef conservationChallenge 2: Protect and restore ecosystems and biodiversityChallenge 6: Increase community resilience to ocean hazards