The 4 most utilized conservation approaches:
1) Preserving Habitats
2)Captive Breeding
3)Zoos and Botanical Gardens
4)Banking Genetic Material
5)Creating/enforcing laws
Evaluation (financially/ecologically speaking/how will it protect):
Preserving Habitats and Creating/Enforcing laws are the key ways to ensuring the survival of the Elkhorn Coral since it lives in colonies/is part of the Coral Reefs thus it cannot be taken from the wild and bred in hopes of returning it later on(so Captive Breeding thereby would not function), it would be hard to display a whole entire ecosystem in zoos or other institutions(so thus Zoos and Botanical Gardens would not be a reasonable conservation approach), and Banking Genetic Material would function if the Elkhorn Coral reproduced sexually primarily (it seldom does which means this method would take too much time and once removed entirely-removing not the gametes but the actual coral- from its habitat it dies so you cannot collect a living sample). But by Preserving Habitats you can ensure the survival of the whole entire ecosystem (since the coral reef for example in Australia's Great Barrier reef Ocean supports the whole entire ecosystem from fishes that hide from predation within it to fireworms that feed off it to zooxanthallae that make oxygen and are protected by it). The only other conservation method that's inexpensive and that could work is creating/ENFORCING legislations because if the laws such as CITES, Endangered Species Act, and etc. are reinforced then human activity such as boating, surfing, and etc. (which have cut off too many Elkhorn branches in such a small span of time that they have not had enough time to asexually reproduce) will diminish. Effective laws should dictate ways to decrese pollution(particularly air= cause global climate change which cause diseases/bleaching and water= algal blooms which affects entire ecosystem), diminish recreational human activity near reefs, and protect most important areas such as the Caribbeans (where Elkhorn Corals are mostly found) and the Great Barrier Reef(where most species of coral are found).
Approach advantages/disavantages:
1. Preserving Habitats
- Advantages: It's considered the most important approach for a reason; without healthy ecosystems for the Elkhorn coral it cannot survive at all (conservation method for this type of species is very limited because it lives with other polyps-colony- and encompasses of the coral reefs). The few prestine habitats that remained if conserved will generate a huge population(since the Elkhorn Coral-polyps in general- can reproduce in many different ways such as by fragmentation-primary-, budding, sexually-spawning-, and etc.) The huge population will enable the ecosystem to grow by offering animals a greater source of food (the snails, fireworms, and etc.), more oxygen (zooxanthallae increase), greater refugee areas (animals more likely to survive), provide home for different species of fishes and etc. (without coral reefs they would not have anywhere to produce their young and/or live in)
- Disadvantages: Generally speaking, the only disadvantage is the fact that it will be hard to maintain mainly because of the increasing human population (if we block all their oceans, beaches, and etc.=complaints but we can solve by limiting the areas of conservation to more vital areas -where more species of corals are at/ where it's the most needed/has hope-). This disadvantage could be solved by creating and mainly enforcing the laws (the other conservation approach)-thus combining the two conservation approaches will ensure an optimal result-
- Advantages: The advantages of this approach are the fact that laws can help regulate human behavior (which can ensure conservation success), diminish the negative effects of human behavior (by regulating it and enforcing laws/fines/etc.), it's relatively inexpensive, and it can also ensure that the public understands the severity of the ecosystems (by enforcing the law on a daily basis). Conservation success= fast propagation (because of the fact that corals live in vast colonies and procreate in many different ways usually within favorable conditions)
- Disadvantages: human behavior can only be controlled to a certain extent (even CITES which protects the Elkhorn Corals has had limited success mainly because of political battles, different countries= different regulations, and illegal activity(which is kind of hard in this case because coral reefs are attached to ecosystem/ in areas that are highly public). Even though, human behavior can only be controlled to a certain extent, enforcing laws will most likely prevent many from disobeying(afraid of consequences) and plus all conservation approaches will have limited success in this field (as sometimes nothing halts illegal activity).
Basic Importance: The importance of Elkhorn Corals lay in the fact that they encompass Coral Reefs (which support the whole entire oceanic ecosystem). Coral reefs are a source of food, refugee for animals big and small, indirectly produce oxygen, produce carbon dioxide, and for humans they are tourist attractions; ecotourism mainly (like the Carribeans, Australia, Florida, and etc.)
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