Author Interview: Long-term survival, growth, and reproduction of Acropora palmata sexual recruits outplanted onto Mexican Caribbean reefs

PeerJ spoke to Anastazia T. Banaszak at Universidad Nacional Autonoma de México about the recently published PeerJ Life & Environment article Long-term survival, growth, and reproduction of Acropora palmata sexual recruits outplanted onto Mexican Caribbean reefs. The article was published as part of the IABO Hub. The IABO Hub is the publishing home of the International Association for Biological Oceanography, and features the latest biological oceanography research published by the members of IABO.

Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

I was born in Australia to Polish parents; I studied my undergraduate degree in Marine Biology at James Cook University; then worked at the Australian Institute of Marine Science as a research scientist, doctoral degree at the University of California at Santa Barbara and postdoctoral fellowship at the Smithsonian Institution before joining the faculty at the National Autonomous University of Mexico in 1999. My research interests include symbiosis, UV photobiology, coral reproduction and reef restoration.

Can you briefly explain the research you published in PeerJ?

We have shown that it is feasible to culture the foundational Caribbean reef-building coral Acropora palmata from eggs and sperm, outplant them onto reefs affected by degradation or ship groundings and within a decade have those corals reproducing and contributing to the establishement of self-sustaining populations.

What did you discover and where?

We also show that the cultured corals spawn synchronously with native corals and can thus contirbute to improving the genetic diversity of the species. This research was undertaken in the Mexican Caribbean.

What was significant about your findings?

The significance is that this approach to applying coral breeding to restoraiton efforts of a foundational reef-building species works, not in theory but in practice.

How did you first hear about PeerJ, and what persuaded you to submit to us?

I heard about PeerJ years ago and saw interesting manuscripts being published there. I was invited to join the editorial board in 2017 and since April this year have been section editor for PeerJ. My lab has published several papers in PeerJ and the editorial process is streamlined and efficient.

How was your experience publishing an article in the IABO hub?

My experience of publishing in the IAHO hub was great. All stages of the editorial process were well managed: submission, reviewing, and production.