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Effects of volcanic ash deposits on four functional groups of a coral reef

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Abstract

The immediate effects of pyroclastic deposits (ash fall) on reef communities after volcanic eruptions on remote tropical islands have never been critically examined. This study discusses findings from an interdisciplinary research expedition to the island of Anatahan (Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands), 4 months after its first recorded volcanic eruption. Deep ash completely obliterated any trace of reef communities off the northeastern shores of the island; however, reefs in other areas, although still blanketed with ash deposits, fared better. Mean fish biomass recorded around Anatahan after the eruption was 0.22 kg 100 m−2, a value three times lower than at Sarigan, the closest neighbor island. Similarly, average percent cover of live coral (7.9%), crustose coralline red algal (7.7%), and macroalgal (14.3%) populations was 2.3, 1.4, and 3.0 times lower than at Sarigan, respectively.

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Acknowledgments

Thank you to REA- and towed-divers Molly Timmers, Joe Laughlin, Rusty Brainard, and Fran Castro. Thanks to Annette DesRochers for data support, Tomoko Acoba and Amanda Toperoff for figure creation, and to all scientific personnel and crew members aboard the 2003 MARAMP expedition. Funding to CRED comes from the US Coral Reef Conservation Program.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ocean Associates, 1125 B Ala Moana Blvd, Honolulu, HI, 96814, USA

    Peter S. Vroom

  2. Scripps Institution of Oceanography, 9500 Gilman Dr, San Diego, CA, 92093, USA

    Brian J. Zgliczynski

Authors
  1. Peter S. Vroom
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  2. Brian J. Zgliczynski
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Correspondence to Peter S. Vroom.

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Communicated by Biology Editor Dr. Hugh Sweatman

Electronic supplementary material

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338_2011_793_MOESM1_ESM.eps

ESM 1 Map of the Mariana Archipelago. Anatahan is the southernmost active stratovolcano in the archipelago. Islands situated south of Anatahan are composed of biologically derived carbonate reef platforms. (EPS 447 kb)

Supplementary material 2 (DOC 30 kb)

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Vroom, P.S., Zgliczynski, B.J. Effects of volcanic ash deposits on four functional groups of a coral reef. Coral Reefs 30, 1025–1032 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-011-0793-8

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