Growth of the staghorn coral Acropora formosa at Houtman Abrolhos, Western Australia |
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Authors: | V J Harriott |
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Institution: | (1) School of Resource Science and Management, Southern Cross University, P.O. Box 157, Lismore, New South Wales 2480, Australia Fax: +61 26621 2669 e-mail: vharriot@scu.edu.au, AU |
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Abstract: | The growth (extension rate, number of radial branches, skeletal mass, branch diameter) of the␣staghorn coral Acropora formosa (Dana, 1846) was examined at four sites on the Beacon Island platform at Houtman Abrolhos, in subtropical Western Australia
(28°S). Sites were at depths of 7 to 11 m, with variable exposure to weather and swell conditions. Two sites on the western
reef slope were partly exposed to the oceanic swell, and two sites in the lagoon were largely protected from wave action.
Linear extension rate between 1994 and 1995 varied significantly between sites, with greater linear extension at the more
protected lagoonal sites. However, accumulation of skeletal mass per branch and number of newly initiated radial branches
did not vary significantly between the sites. Carbonate was deposited in similar amounts, but either as porous, rapidly extending
branches, or as denser branches which extended more slowly. Branch extension rate over 11.5 mo ranged from a mean of 50.3 mm
(range=13 to 93 mm) at a reef slope site to a mean of 76.0 mm (range=31 to 115 mm) at a sheltered lagoonal site. Mean extension
rates were almost twice that previously reported for this species in Houtman Abrolhos (37 to 43 mm yr−1) from a shallower site where environmental conditions were apparently sub-optimal. Growth was within the range reported for
A. formosa from tropical sites, which is consistent with the relatively high calcification and reef-accretion rates recorded for Houtman
Abrolhos in geological and metabolic studies. The role of reduced coral growth-rate in limiting coral reef formation at high
latitudes remains equivocal.
Received: 19 November 1997 / Accepted: 5 May 1998 |
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