Coral reefs, vital for marine biodiversity and providing numerous ecosystem services, face significant decline due to anthropogenic pressures, notably climate change. Restoration efforts have emerged as a crucial strategy to counteract reef decline, where slow-growing massive and encrusting corals are highly underrepresented with less than 5%. This may be reversed by extending the use of micro-fragmentation. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to elucidate micro-fragmentation of Madracis decactis (Lyman, 1859) in the Southwest Atlantic, focusing on ideal initial fragment size and performance in ex-situ nurseries and in-situ field conditions. Fragments of different sizes were analyzed for survival and growth over 90 days. Overall, ex-situ nurseries (97.2 ± 1.4%) demonstrated higher survival rates compared to in-situ sites (61.8 ± 8.6%). Growth rates in area, polyp number and weight were comparable between environments, with small fragments (~ 1 cm²) showing the highest growth rates, benefiting from rapid edge growth and fusion, and potentially minimising size-specific mortality. These findings support the feasibility of micro-fragmentation for M. decactis restoration, emphasising cost-effective direct outplanting of small micro-fragments to favourable well-selected in-situ environments, which could benefit from fusion to enhance survival and growth. In the light of climate change, future research should focus on long-term studies and genotypic-specific performance, further conducting ecological monitoring and ecosystem-based management to refine restoration practices.
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