Age structure of massive Porites lutea corals at Luhuitou fringing reef (northern South China Sea) indicates recovery following severe anthropogenic disturbance

Luhuitou fringing reef at Hainan Island (northern South China Sea) has experienced severe anthropogenic disturbance, with live coral cover declining by > 80 % since the 1960 s. To assess the size structure of Porites lutea , we measured the sizes of 1,857 colonies from the reef flat (0 m) and slo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Coral reefs 2014-03, Vol.33 (1), p.39-44
Main Authors: Zhao, M. X., Yu, K. F., Zhang, Q. M., Shi, Q., Roff, G.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal and plant ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Anthropogenic factors
Biological and medical sciences
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Cnidaria. Ctenaria
Coral reefs
Freshwater & Marine Ecology
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Invertebrates
Life Sciences
Marine biology
Oceanography
Sea water ecosystems
Synecology
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Summary:Luhuitou fringing reef at Hainan Island (northern South China Sea) has experienced severe anthropogenic disturbance, with live coral cover declining by > 80 % since the 1960 s. To assess the size structure of Porites lutea , we measured the sizes of 1,857 colonies from the reef flat (0 m) and slope (2–4 m depth). Both populations were positively skewed and leptokurtic in shape, indicating a high abundance of smaller colonies (averaging 21.4 ± 2.3 cm on the flat and 31.9 ± 2.8 cm on the slope). Age structure of populations was determined through growth rates extracted from X-rays of P. lutea cores. The majority of colonies (> 95 %) were 
ISSN:0722-4028
1432-0975
DOI:10.1007/s00338-013-1109-y