Estimation of coral growth-rates from laboratory 45Ca-incorporation rates

Laboratory ⁴⁵Ca-incorporation rates in hermatypic coral skeletons have previously been used successfully as an index of physiological function. This laboratory method would become more meanigful if it also provided an absolute measure of coral growth rates. In two coral species, Porites compressa and Pocillopora damicornis, ⁴⁵Ca incorporation rates were obtained from short (0.5 h) laboratory incubations using apical (determined as fast growing) portions of freshly collected coral branches. ⁴⁵Ca exchange across the coenosarc was not significant and not corrected for, whereas diurnal fluctuation in ⁴⁵Ca in Pocillopora damicornis was significant and a necessary correction. A calculated surface area is used to express calcification rate. Typical growth rates calculated from the ⁴⁵Ca-incorporation rates were 20 and 6 mm/year for Porites compressa and Pocillopora damicornis, respectively. These rates are considerably higher than those previously obtained in the laboratory, and compare favorably with field growth rates — 24 and 14 mm/year, respectively.