Reef, communities

Baird, M. E. and Atkinson, M. J. (1997). Measurement and prediction of mass transfer to experimental coral reef communities, Limnol. Oceanogr., 42, 1685-1693. 

Lewis SM (1986) The role of herbivorous fishes in the organization of a Caribbean reef community. Ecol Monogr 56 183-200... 

Bray, R.N., Purcell, L.J. and Miller, A.C. (1986). Ammonium excretion in a temperate reef community by a planktivorous fish, Chtomis punctipinnis (Pomacentridae), and potential uptake by young giant kelp Macrocystis pyrifera (Laminariales). Marine Biology 90,327-334. 

Done, T. J., Phase shifts in coral reef communities and their ecological significance, Hydrobiologia, 247, 121, 1992. 

Similarly, in coral reef communities, N2 fixation in carbonate sands are a major source of N2 fixation, and the recent discovery of diazotrophic coccoid cyanobacteria living within the tissues of Montastrea corals suggests that there may well be more diazotrophic symbioses with corals. Many sponges harbor cyanobacteria symbioses, and these may also be important sources of fixed nitrogen. 

Figure 20.2 Relationships between N-loading rates and phase shifts among primary producers in coral reef communities.

Capone, D. G., Taylor, D. L., and Taylor, B. F. (1977). Nitrogen-fixation (acetylene-reduction) associated with macroalgae in a coral reef community in the Bahamas. Mar. Biol. 40, 29—32. 

Johannes, R. E. (1975). Pollution and degradation of coral reef communities. In Tropical Marine Pollution (Wood, E., and Johannes, R. E., eds.). Elsevier. 

Odum, H. T., and Odum, E. P. (1955). Trophic structure and productivity of a windward coral reef community on Enewetak AtoU. Ecol. Monogr. 25, 291—320. 

Ribes, M., Coma, R., Atkinson, M. J., and Kinzie, R. A. (2003). Particle removal by coral reef communities Picoplankton is a major source of nitrogen. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 257, 13—23. 

Lapointe, B. E., Barile, P. J., and Matzie, W. R. (2004). Anthropogenic nutrient enrichment of seagrass and coral reef communities in the Lower Florida Keys Discrimination of local versus regional nitrogen sources.Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 308, 23—58. 

Hubbard, J.A.E.B., 1974. Barnes technique amended for analysing fabric and cavity development in coral reef communities. J. Paleontol., 48 769—777. 

Before exploring the intricacies of reef biogenic processes, we should consider some aspects of reef community structure and zonation. Reefs are comprised of large numbers of spectacular animals, particularly the corals themselves, but the far less conspicuous plants (mostly algae) have a standing crop which exceeds that of the animals. The name coral reef therefore is... 

Johannes, R.E. and Gerber, R., 1974. Import and export of net plankton by an Eniwetok coral reef community. Proceedings of the Second International Symposium on Coral Reefs, Vol. 1, pp. 97—104. 

LIMER, 1976. Metabolic processes of coral reef communities at Lizard Island, Queensland. LIMER 1975 Expedition team. Search, 7 463—468. 

Coral reef communities have also demonstrated the ability to take up suspended planktonic organic matter as a source of new carbon (Glynn, 1973 Johannes Gerber, 1974 Ayukai, 1995 Sebens etal., 1997 Fabricius etal., 1998 Ribes etal, 1998 Yahel etal., 1998). Reported rates of particulate carbon uptake are low (<40 mmol Cm-2 day-1) compared to rates of gross primary production and community respiration (Table 2.2), and have been demonstrated to be an unimportant source of carbon for some hard and soft coral communities (Ribes, 1998 submitted). However, the uptake of particulate organic matter may be an important source of food for some specific reef communities (Fabricius etal., 1998). 

Iodine is a basic nutrient compound in the ocean. Iodate (I03) is the oxidized form and abundant in ocean. Iodate is removed by plants, iodide 1 is released and oxidizes chemically and bacterially to iodate. The biogeochemical cycle has not been studied in reef ecosystems, but we believe it will be one of the most interesting. It appears iodate can be removed from the water column by reef communities very rapidly and has rate constants similar to nitrate (Atkinson,... 

Coral reef frameworks are partially lithified carbonate structures on which reef communities grow. Pore-waters of reef frameworks are mostly anaerobic and contain elevated levels of dissolved nutrients (Skyring Chambers, 1976 Buddemeier Oberdorfer, 1983 Corredor Capone, 1985 Sansone, 1985 Sansone etal., 1990). This is a common feature of many coral reefs (Sansone etal., 1990), and a direct result of oxidation of organic matter (Sansone etal., 1990 Tribble etal., 1990). The subsequent production of carbonic acid from the oxidation of organic matter lowers pore-water pH and reduces the activity of the carbonate ion, thus facilitating in situ dissolution of carbonate (primarily aragonite) (Sansone etal., 1990 Tribble etal., 1990). 

Bilger, R.W. and Atkinson, M.J. (1995) Effects of nutrient loading on mass-transfer rates to a coral-reef community. limnology and Oceanography, 40, 279-289. 

Falter, J.L. (2002) Mass transfer limits to nutrient uptake by shallow coral reef communities. PhD Dissertation, University of Hawaii, 126 pp. 

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