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A maritime accident provides evidence for alternate stable states in benthic communities on coral reefs

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Abstract

An a posteriori examination of the site of a ship wreck on the outer edge of the Great Barrier Reef revealed an unique, macroalgal-dominated benthic community. The persistence of community structure throughout a year of observation in an environment characterised by intensely grazed microalgae, and in the absence of a measurable wreck-derived influence, provides circumstantial evidence that it represents an alternative stable state. A mechanism for effecting state shifts in coral reef algal communities involves the size-dependent response by grazing organisms to algae in a perturbed environment.

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  1. B. G. Hatcher

    Present address: Marine Biology Laboratory, University of Western Australia, P.O. Box 20, 6020, North Beach, Western Australia, Australia

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  1. Division of Fisheries Research, CSIRO Marine Laboratories, P.O. Box 20, 6020, North Beach, Western Australia, Australia

    B. G. Hatcher

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Hatcher, B.G. A maritime accident provides evidence for alternate stable states in benthic communities on coral reefs. Coral Reefs 3, 199–204 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00288255

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