Abstract
A correlation between skeletal growth of recent bryozoans and external environmental factors (e.g. abrasion, suspended sediment load) exists in ahermatypic tropical shallow water associations of the Philippines. Yet, the spatial zonation pattern of bryozoan species in a modern Philippine reef exhibits an amazingly high level of stability and order which cannot be readily correlated with external environmental factors. This is due to the observation that zonation correlates with the bryozoan taxa but not with their growth form categories (e.g. flexible-erect). Bryozoans are closely linked with their reef (micro)environment and reef microbiota by feedback control: Interacting biofilms, microbial mats, bryozoans and bryozoan larvae illustrate how such internal functions in a Philippine reef may stabilize the biotope structure as a whole
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