Evaluating the success of coral reef restoration programmes requires consideration of ecosystem functioning

In the past twenty years, there has been a sharp rise in the establishment of coral reef restoration programmes, which generally aim to restore key services provided by healthy, natural reefs. However, the effect of restoration on arguably more important metrics related to ecosystem functioning is rarely monitored, with most programmes focusing their monitoring on static variables (e.g. coral cover) only. With crucial metrics related to ecosystem functioning left largely unmonitored, it is difficult to assess the outcomes of reef restoration through a truly ecological lens. We therefore propose that ecosystem functioning should be placed at the forefront of reef restoration, and suggest the following focus points for improvements in the field: (1) Implement a set of standardized methods to monitor key functional processes on restored reefs (and neighboring natural reefs), (2) better understand how reef restoration will support ecosystem functioning in a changing ocean, and the identity of organisms that carry most of the “functionality load” on reefs, and (3) adopt a function-centric approach that implements techniques specifically targeted at protecting the respective species and processes of interest.