Abstract
Eleven fringing reef sites were investigated over a distance of about 50 km in the Phuket Region. There is a wide range in exposure to wave energy, and also water turbidity across the area. Annual increments of growth of shallow-water reef-front colonies of Porites lutea were calculated for the period November 1984 November 1986 using seasonal fluorescent banding (revealed with ultraviolet light) and Alizarin staining. Measurement of linear extension rate, skeletal bulk density, calcification rate, polyp numbers per unit area and colony surface morphology were made and compared. Linear extension rate and skeletal bulk density are inversely related within and between reef sites. Linear extension rate decreases and bulk density increases along a gradient of increasing hydraulic energy of the setting. Calcification (the product of linear extension rate and bulk density), although varying slightly from site to site, does not appear to relate to any obvious environmental inshore-offshore gradient. Skeletal bulk density is the most sensitive discriminator between reef sites, and we suggest that hydraulic energy of the setting is the main control on these spatial variations in skeletogenesis.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aller RC, Dodge RE (1974) Animal-sediment relations in a tropical lagoon, Discovery Bay, Jamaica. J Mar Res 32:209–232
Bak RPM (1978) Lethal and sublethal effects of dredging on reef corals. Mar Pollut Bull 9:14–16
Barnes DJ, Devereux MJ (1988) Variations in skeletal architecture associated with density banding in the head coral Porites. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 121:37–54
Boto K, Isdale PJ (1985) Fluorescent bands in massive corals result from terrestrial fulvic acid inputs to nearshore zone. Nature 315:396–397
Brown BE, Holley MC (1984) Coral assemblages of intertidal reef flats at Ko Phuket, Thailand. Phuket Mar Biol Centre Bull 30:1–10
Brown BE, Sya'rani L, Le Tissier MDA (1985) Skeletal form and growth in Acropora aspera (Dana) from Pulau Seribu, Indonesia. J Exp Mar Ecol 86:139–150
Brown BE, Le Tissier MDA, Howard LS, Charuchinda M, Jackson JA (1986) Asynchronous deposition of dense skeletal bands in Porites lutea (Edwards and Haime). Mar Biol 93:83–89
Brown BE, Le Tissier MDA, Scoffin TP, Tudhope AW (1990) Evaluation of the environmental impact of dredging on intertidal corals at Ko Phuket, Thailand, using ecological and physiological parameters. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 65:273–281
Buddemeier RW (1974) Environmental controls over annual and lunar monthly cycles in hermatypic coral calcification. Proc 2nd Int Coral Reef Symp 2:259–267
Charuchinda M, Hylleberg J (1984) Skeletal extension of Acropora formosa at a fringing reef in the Andaman Sea. Coral Reefs 3:215–219
Conover WJ (1971) Practical nonparametric statistics. Wiley, New York, pp 462
Ditlev H (1978) Zonation of corals (Scleractinia: Coelenterata) on intertidal reef flats at Ko Phuket, Eastern Indian Ocean. Mar Biol 47:29–39
Dodge RE, Brass GW (1984) Skeletal extension, density and calcification of a reef coral (Montastrea annularis): St Croix, US Virgin Islands. Bull Mar Sci 34:288–307
Dodge RE, Vaisnys JR (1977) Coral populations and growth patterns: responses to sedimentation and turbidity associated with dredging. J Mar Res 35:715–730
Dodge RE, Vaisnys JR (1980) Skeletal growth chronologies of recent and fossil corals. In: Rhoads DC, Lutz RA (eds) Skeletal growth of aquatic organisms. Plenum, New York, pp 228–240
Dodge RE, Aller RC, Thomson J (1974) Coral growth related to resuspension of bottom sediments. Nature 247:574–576
Highsmith RC (1979) Coral growth rates and environmental control of density banding. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 37:105–125
Hudson JH, Shinn EA, Halley rB, Lidz B (1976) Selerochronology: a toof for interpreting past environments. Geology 4:361–364
Hughes TP (1987) Skeletal density and growth form of corals. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 35:259–266
Huston M (1985) Variation in coral growth rates with depth at Discovery Bay. Coral Reefs 4:19–25
Isdale PJ (1984) Fluorescent bands in massive corals recerd centuries of coastal rainfall. Nature 310:578–579
Limpsaichol P (1981) Environmental factors estimated at PMBC. Phuket Mar Biol Cent Res Bull 28:23–26
Rogers CS (1990) Responses of coral reefs and reef organisms to sedimentation. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 62:185–202
Schneider RC, Smith SV (1982) Skeletal Sr content and density in Porites spp. in relation to environmental factors. Mar Biol 66:121–131
Scoffin TP, Tudhope AW, Brown BE (1989a) Corals as environmental indicators, with preliminary results from South Thailand. Terra Nova 1:559–563
Scoffin TP, Tudhope AW, Brown BE (1989 b) Fluorescent and skeletal density banding in Porites lutea from Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. Coral Reefs 7:169–178
Siegel S (1956) Nonparametric statistics. McGraw-Hill, New York, pp 312
Teissier G (1948) La relation d'allometrrie: sa signification statistique et biologique. Biometrics 4:14–53
Weber JN, White EW, Weber PH (1975) Correlation of density banding in reef coral skeletons with environmental parameters: the basis for interpretation of chronological records preserved in the coralla of corals. Paleobiology 1:137–149
Wellington GM, Glynn PW (1983) Environmental influences on skeletal banding in eastern Pacific (Panama) corals. Coral Reefs 1:215–222
Williams RGB (1986) Intermediate statistics for geographers and earth scientists. MacMillan, London, pp 351–712
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Scoffin, T.P., Tudhope, A.W., Brown, B.E. et al. Patterns and possible environmental controls of skeletogenesis of Porites lutea, South Thailand. Coral Reefs 11, 1–11 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00291929
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00291929