Supporting Data for Multiscale Ecological Assessment to Support Resilience-Based Coral Restoration and Adaptive Reef Management in Hong Kong

Coral reefs are undergoing unprecedented degradation under the combined pressures of climate change, chronic anthropogenic stressors, and ecological tipping points. These pressures have increasingly overwhelmed the natural regenerative capacity of reef systems, particularly in marginal and urbanized settings. In response, coral reef science is undergoing a paradigm shift - from passive protection to active, resilience-oriented intervention. This thesis critically engages with that transition by exploring how coral restoration can be operationalized in subtropical, human-impacted environments, using Hong Kong as a model system.Subtropical reefs in East and Southeast Asia remain both ecologically significant and underrepresented in global restoration science. These systems face distinctive challenges, including thermal seasonality, sediment stress, and urban development. Yet they may also act as future climate refugia. Through a multiscale ecological framework, this thesis investigates how restoration strategies can be adapted to such dynamic and constrained settings by integrating organismal physiology, community dynamics, and genetic connectivity.Three empirical chapters address key dimensions of this challenge. First, RAD-seq analysis of the stress-tolerant coral <i>Oulastreacrispata</i> revealed unexpectedly high genetic homogeneity across Hong Kong, suggesting broad larval dispersal but limited local adaptation - a finding that has implications for broodstock selection and evolutionary resilience in restoration planning. Second, experimental manipulation of <i>Acroporadigitifera</i> fragments demonstrated how fragment size and seasonal temperature jointly shape physiological performance, underscoring the importance of size-standardized deployment strategies tuned to thermal regimes. Third, a four-year field trial using 3D-printed Reef Tiles™ evaluated coral survivorship and functional community recovery. Results showed that modular substrates can support both individual coral health and the early reassembly of reef-associated fish and invertebrate assemblages, even in high-stress urban contexts.Together, these findings demonstrate that restoration success depends not only on technical feasibility but on ecological compatibility across scales. The thesis proposes a multiscale assessment framework to guide adaptive restoration - one that accounts for genetic structure, organismal stress responses, and community-level functions. Beyond ecological insight, it critically examines how restoration intersects with biodiversity policy, environmental finance, and governance structures in a city like Hong Kong.This work contributes a regionally grounded, functionally nuanced perspective on coral restoration science. It advances theoretical and practical tools to inform context-specific interventions, with relevance for both ecological resilience and the evolving political economy of marine restoration in the Anthropocene.<br>