Abstract
Coral population structure is determined mainly by the larval settlement and recruitment pattern of sclerectenian corals. This pattern is mainly influenced by various environmental parameters such as temperature, pH, salinity, depth, current velocity and direction, tidal variations and turbidity. Experiments reported here examine the impacts of turbidity on the spatio-temporal distribution patterns of larval settlement of Indo-Pacific coral, Pocillopora damicornis at Polhena reef of Southern Sri Lanka. The experiment was conducted in four sites. Depending on the topography and the characteristics of the reef substrate each site was further divided in to three locations as reef crest, mid reef flat and reef lagoon. Terracotta tiles were attached to quantify larval settlement rates. Tiles were retrieved in monthly intervals and observed for P. damicornis larval settlements. Turbidity measurements were taken from the same locations. Larval settlement and turbidity showed a significant temporal (P DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4038/sljas.v15i0.5484 Sri Lanka J. Aquat. Sci. 15 (2010): p.45-60
Highlights
The presence of a healthy coral population is important for reef health, and critically important for the ecosystem goods and services they provide to maritime tropical and subtropical nations (Moberg and Folke 1999)
Variation in P. damicornis settlements The highest coral larval settlement rate was observed in May and the lowest in February (Figure 2)
Temporal variations of coral larval settlement pattern indicated that there was a significant difference in settlement peaks during the year (F3, 72=140.495, P
Summary
The presence of a healthy coral population is important for reef health, and critically important for the ecosystem goods and services they provide to maritime tropical and subtropical nations (Moberg and Folke 1999). Many of them are important to local economies and subsistence in more than 181 countries that have coral reefs (Wilkinson 2004). Reefs are in serious decline worldwide (Gardner et al 2003; Hughes et al 2003; Pandolfi et al 2003) an estimated 30% are already severely damaged, 11% of the original extent of coral reefs has already been lost (Wilkinson 2000) and close to 60% may be lost by 2030 (Wilkinson 2002). An estimated 58% of reefs are classified as threatened (Bryant et al 1998). At present, there are no pristine reefs left (Pandolfi et al 2003). The causes for coral decline are thought to include a combination of direct anthropogenic factors, such as overfishing, pollution, and sedimentation
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