Benthic primary production on a fringing coral reef in barbados, West Indies

Abstract

Rates of oxygen production and consumption (respiration) of encrusting coralline, endolithic and epipelic algae from a fringing coral reef in Barbados, West Indies, were measured. Mean hourly rates of net and gross production per m 2 of encrusting coralline algal surface were similar to rates of encrusting coralline algal production on other coral reefs while rates of endolithic and epipelic algal production were higher than those reported elsewhere. Net productivity of benthic algae, excluding coral symbiotic algal production was 1.32 g C m −2 of reef surface day −1. Daily net production per m 2 of reef surface surpassed oceanic net phytoplankton productivity 10 km off the island's west coast by a factor of 9.4 and neritic water net phytoplankton productivity adjacent to the fringing reef by a factor of 12.0. Gross and net primary production to respiration ratios for all algal types and for 1 m 2 of reef surface were all positive. The importance of these algal food resources to herbivores inhibitating reefs which lack fleshly macrophytes and seagrasses is discussed with examples from Barbados and elsewhere.