A Research Proposal Presented To The Faculty of The Alcate, Victoria, Oriental Mindoro, Philippines

Investigation of the Effects of Bamboo and Safe concrete Cages on
Coral Fragment Utilizing Pillars Corals (Dendrogya cylindricus)

as an Artificial Environment for
the Enhancement of Marine Diversity
A Research Proposal
Presented to the Faculty of the
MINDORO STATE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AND TECHNOLOGY
Alcate, Victoria, Oriental Mindoro, Philippines
In Partial Fulfillment
Of the Requirements for the Degree of
BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN AGRICULTURAL AND BIOSYSTEMS ENGINEERING
By
Mejico, Mia Suzane M.

March 2021
RATIONALE
Several reason such as human activities, bleaching, increase
in cyclone intensity degraded coral reefs worldwide. The
possibility of global warming is named again as a threat for
coral reefs and associated organisms. Global warming can result
in rising sea level and periods of increased temperature stress.
Thus, this may also bring increased storm frequency and
intensity. The threat is through fatal heat stress to corals and
indirectly, by boosting the energy of cyclones that cause coral
destruction and loss of associated organisms. Previous studies
proved such as the potential of bamboo and concrete cage as
artificial coral reef. Furthermore, this study suggests to
recover the indigent conditioned coral reefs in determining the
better artificial environment for coral propagation.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The present research aims to study the propagation of
Orange-pipe coral (Tubipora musica) using bamboo and concrete as
an artificial environment. The specific objectives of the present
study are:
1. To identify the most effective artificial environment of the
coral sample utilizing bamboo and concrete cages in terms of:
1.1 Initial growth comparison
1.2 Survival data
1.3 Maximum growth potential
STATEMENT OF THE EXPECTED GOALS AND OUTCOMES

The researcher will be guided by the hypothesis to be
tested.
1. The identification of the most effective artificial
environment of the coral sample between bamboo and concrete cages
in terms of:
1.1 Initial growth
1.2 Survival data
1.3 Maximum growth potential
RESEARCH METHODS
Preparation and Authentication of the coral sample
The coral sample will be requested and then will be
authenticated at UPMSI- Bolinao Marine Laboratory. It will be
brought in the Laboratory of Mindoro State College of Agriculture
and Technology
Set up of Tank in Bamboo Environment
To perform this experiment, a tank will be set up to a place
the micro-fragmented coral in. After visiting an aquarium store
and talking with employees there, who have extensive experience
with setting up tanks and maintaining them, the tank will be
selected to be used will be a 30 1/4 × 12 1/2 × 18 3/4 inches
that contains light, and everything else needed to maintain a
tank, besides a heater incorporated into a tank.
The tank was set up according to the instruction of the
aquarium store, and other reliable sources.
In terms of the presentation of the bamboo, it will be
collected in Gloria, Oriental Mindoro Philippines and will be cut
in 30 × 1/2 inches and will be assembled into the desired design.
One piece of Orange-pipe coral will be cut into smaller pieces.
The fragments will be exploited with a marine super-glue on an
aragonite substrate plug that was much bigger than fragment, in
order for coral fragments to have room to grow. The Aragonite
substrate plug will be put in between of the holes of bamboo. It
will be observed in 68 days.
Set up of Tank in Concrete Experiment
To perform this experiment, a tank will be set up to place
the micro-fragmented coral in. After visiting an aquarium store
and talking with employees there, who have extensive experiment
with setting up tanks and maintaining them, the tank will be
selected to be used will be a 30 1/4 × 12 1/2 × 18 3/4 inches
that contains lights and everything else needed to maintain a
tank, besides a heater incorporated into the tank. The tank was
set-up according to the instruction of the aquarium store and
other reliable sources.
In terms of the preparation of the concrete, it will be
shaped 30 × 1/2 inches and will be assembled to a desired design.
One piece of orange-pipe coral will be cut into smaller pieces.
The fragments will be epoxied with the marine super-glue on an
aragonite substrate plug that was much bigger than fragment, in
order for coral fragment to have room to grow. The Aragonite
substrate plug will be put in between of the holes of the
concrete. It will be observed in 68 days.
Maintenance of the tank
A bi-weekly 25% water change will be performed throughout
the experiment, and the filter will be changed every 2 weeks. The
pump for the filter will be taken out over 2 weeks and cleaned.
The two blue lights (36 watt actinic blue straight pin, and 0.75
watt lunar blue LED bar) were left om from 6 am to 6 pm for 12
hours every day, and the white light used occasionally for
observation.
Finding Exact Measurement of Corals
The exact measurements of coral could not have been found
using calipers, because of the irregular shape of most of the
fragments. In order to find the exact measurements, the photo
imaging app GIMP will be used. The photo of each fragment at each
specific timing will be imported into GIMP.
The area of the circle will then be selected, free-hand,
using the free select tool, and the area of the coral will be
found in pixel using the histogram tool. Then the length of 1 cm
will be found in pixels by measuring 1 cm using measuring tool.
There could be some errors with extremely precise measurements,
but it is assumed that if any errors will be made then they will
be repeated error since the same person was taking all of the
measurements, and the result will not be affected, because the
error will be made for analysis of each picture. The total number
of pixels will then be divided by the length of 1 cm in pixels
squared to find the area of each fragment in cm2.
TESTING PROCEDURE
Initial Growth Comparison
Omission of photographs of larger fragments taken on day 0
made them unusable for data collection. Therefore, to determine
whether there were initial growth differences between the two
artificial environment, only data collected between day 34 and
day 68 will be used. Kruskal-Wallis tests, with fragment type
(micro fragment array vs. larger fragment) as the independent
variable, were used to determine differences in the overall
change in surface area (i.e., amount of tissue created or lost).
The change in the surface area between day 34 and day 68 will be
divided by the initial surface area measured for each array or
larger fragment. Analyses at the bamboo environment and the
Concrete environment and the concrete environment will be
conducted independently to determine if results were consistent
between the two artificial environments. A Kruskal-Wallis test
will also used to determine whether the change in surface area,
standardized by the initial perimeter (i.e., the surface area to
perimeter ratio) significantly differed between the artificial
environments.
Survival Data
Survival analysis, using a cox proportional hazard model
( Therneau, 2015) will be conducted on the survival rate data to
determine whether fragment type influenced overall survival.
Because an array will be considered the primary sampling unit,
rather than each individual micro fragment, arrays will be
considered still alive as long as one micro fragment contained
living tissue. A logistic regression will be used to determine
whether the amount of predation on each fragment effected the
overall survival of each individual micro fragment.
Maximum Growth Potential
Finally, a student’s t-test will be used to determine
whether there were differences between the maximum growth
potential of tubipora musica arrays for bamboo and concrete the
artificial environments that did not experience heavy predation
effects (i.e., <40% loss; see below). Again, the data will be
standardized by the initial surface area of each fragment or
array, and then by total initial perimeter to determine if there
was a difference in the amount of tissue produced by fragment
type per initial cm of perimeter. All statistical analyses will
conducted using the program R( R Core Team, 2017).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Fadli, N. (2009). Growth rate of Acropora Formosa Fragments
that transplanted on artificial Subtrate Made from Coral
Rubble.BIODIVERSITAS, 10(4), 181-186.
dio:10.13057/biodiv/d100404
Fei, B., Gao, Z., Wang, J., & Liu Z. (2016). Biology Xylem
Secondary. International Center for Bamboo and Rattan, Beijing,
China: Academic Press.
Kinne, O. (1964) The Effects of Temperature and Salinity on
marine and brackfish water animals. Oceanography and Marine
Biology, 2, 281-339
Smyth,K., & Ellliot, M. (2016). Effects of Changing salinity
on the ecology of the marine environment. Stressor in the Marine
Environment, 161-173
Thongtham, N., & Worachananant S. (2013). Survival Rate of
coral fragments transplanted by different methods. Galaxea
Journal of Coral Reef Studies, 351-358

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Investigation of the Effects of Bamboo and Safe concrete Cages on

Coral Fragment Utilizing Pillars Corals (Dendrogya cylindricus)

Mejico, Mia Suzane M.

STATEMENT OF THE EXPECTED GOALS AND OUTCOMES

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