Abstract
Three methods of evaluating stony coral communities were used on selected reefs in the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park (24°22′N, 77°30′W) in the central Bahamas. Shallow reefs (< 4 meters depth) were selected from aerial surveys based on size, location, and physical setting, and grouped into three community types: (1) channel patch reefs, (2) soft-coral-sponge patch reefs and (3) fringing reefs. Three survey techniques used to evaluate the stony coral communities were a) species presence and absence lists, b) linear percentage and c) line transects using 1 mx1 m grids. Data collected from these survey methods was used to calculate coral colony density, species area coverage, and species diversity based on colony number and based on linear (cm) coral cover. The linear percentage sampling was considered too convervative in determining distribution patterns of a reef community; this technique takes into account the massive reef framework species such asM. annularis. The line transect technique can account for both colony number and area coverage, thus is a better method for characterizing reef communities. Sample size considerations are discussed for future applications of survey techniques for ground-truthing digital images of small, shallow reef communities.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bak RPM, Engel MS (1979) Distribution, abundance and survival of juvenile hermatypic corals (Scleractinia) and the importance of life history strategies in the parent coral community. Mar Biol 54:351–352
Birkeland C (1977) The importance of rate of biomass accumulation in early successional stages of benthic communities to the survival of coral recruits. Proc 3rd Int Coral Reef Symp 1:15–21
Bloom SA (1981) Similarity indices in community studies: potential pitfalls. Marc Ecol Prog Ser 5:125–128
Brock RE (1979) An experimental study on the effects of grazing by parrotfishes and the role of refuges in benthic community structure. Mar Biol 51:381–88
Buss LW, Jackson JBC (1979) Competitive networks: nontransitive competitive relationships in cryptic coral reef environments. Am Nat 113:223–34
Connell JH (1978) Diversity in tropical rain forests and coral reefs. Science 199:1302–1310
Cuba TR (1981) Diversity: a two-level approach. Ecology 62:278–279
Dahl AL (1981) Monitoring coral reefs for urban impact. Bull Mar Sci 31:544–551
Dana TF (1976) Reef-coral dispersion patterns and environmental variables on a Caribbean coral reef. Bull Mar Sci 26:1–13
Dayton PK, Oliver JS (1980) An evaluation of experimental analyses of population and community patterns in benthic marine environments. In: Tenore KR, Coull BC (eds) Marine benthic dynamics. University of South Carolina Press, Columbia, SC, pp 93–120
Dunham RJ (1970) Stratigraphic reefs vs. ecological reefs. Am Assoc Petrol Geol. Bull 54:1931–1932
Dustan P, Halas JC (1987) Changes in the reef-coral community of Carysfort Reef, Key Largo, Florida: 1974 to 1982. Coral Reefs 6:91–106
Edmondson CH (1928) The ecology of an Hawaiian coral reef. Bishop Mus Bull 45:1–64
Fadlallah YH (1983) Sexual reproduction: development and larval biology in Scleractinian corals. A review. Coral Reefs 2:129–150
Field J, Clark K, Warwick R (1982) A practical strategy for analyzing multi-species distribution patterns. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 8:37–52
Gleason HA (1922) On the relation between species and area. Ecology 3:158–62
Goldberg WM (1973) The ecology of the coral-octocoral communities off the southeast Florida coast. Geomorphology, species composition, and zonation. Bull Mar Sci 23:465–88
Hughes TP (1984) Population dynamics based on individual size rather than age: a general model with a coral reef example. Am Nat 123:778–795
Huston M (1979) A general hypothesis of species diversity. Am Nat 113:81–101
Huston M (1985) Patterns of species diversity on coral reefs. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 16:149–177
Jaap WC, Lyons WG, Dustan P, Halas JC (1989) Stony coral (Scleractinia andMilleporina) Community Structure at Bird Key Reef, Ft. Jefferson National Monument, Dry Tortugas, Florida. Fla Mar Res Publ 46:1–31
Jackson BC, Hughes TP (1985) Adaptive strategies of coral-reef invertebrates. Am Sci 73:265–274
Kuno E (1969) A new method of sequential sampling to obtain the population estimates with a fixed level of precision. Res Pop Ecol 11:127–36
Lang J (1973) Interspecific aggression by Scleractinian corals. 2. Why the race is not only to the swift. Bull Mar Sci 23:260–79
Lewis JB (1989) The ecology ofMillepora. A review. Coral Reefs 8: 99–107
Loya Y (1972) Community structure and species diversity of hermatypic corals at Eilat, Red Sea. Mar Biol 13:100–23
Loya Y (1978) Plotless and transect methods. In: Stoddart DR, Johannes RE (eds) Coral reefs: research methods. UNESCO, Paris, pp 197–217
Maragos JE (1974) Coral communities on a seaward reef slope, Fanning Island. Pac Sci 28:257–78
Marsh LM, Bradbury RH, Reichelt RF (1983) Determination of the physical parameters of coral distributions using line transect data. Coral Reefs 2:175–180
Mayor AG (1918) Ecology of the Murray Island coral reef. Papers Dept Mar Biol Carnegie Inst 9:1–48
Mayor AG (1924) Structure and ecology of Samoan reefs. Papers Dept Mar Biol Carnegie Inst 19:1–64
Newell NP, Imbrie J, Purdy EC, Thurber AL (1959) Organism communities and bottom facies, Great Bahama Bank. Bull Am Mus Nat Hist 117:181–228
Odum HT, Odum EP (1955) Trophic structure and productivity of a windward coral reef community on Eniwetok Atoll. Ecol Monog 25:291–320
Pichon M (1978) Problems of measuring and mapping coral reef colonies. In: Stoddart DR, Johannes RE (eds) Coral reefs: research methods. UNESCO, Paris, PP 2219–230
Pielou EC (1975) Ecological diversity. Wiley-Interscience, New York, pp 1–19
Pielou EC (1977) Mathematical ecology. Wiley-Interscience, New York, pp 267–312
Porter JW (1676) Autotrophy, heterotrophy, and resource partitioning in caribbean reef-building corals. Am Nat 110:732–740
Schumacher H, Zibrowius H (1985) What is hermatypic? a redefinition of ecological groups of corals and other organisms. Coral Reefs 4:1–9
Soule ME (1986) Shallow tropical marine environments. Conservation biology. The science of scarcity and diversity. Sinauer, New York
Southwood TRE (1966) Ecological methods with particular reference to the study of insect populations. Methuen, London, 391 p
Stoddart DR, Davies PS, Keith AC (1966) Geomorphology of Addu Atoll. Atoll Res Bull 116:13–41
Storr JF (1964) Ecology and oceanography of the coral reef tract, Abaco Island, Bahamas. Geol Soc Am Spec Papers 79:1–98
Szmant AM (1986) Reproductive ecology of Caribbean reef corals. Coral Reefs 5:43–54
Walton Smith FG (1971) Atlantic reef corals. University of Miami Press, Miami, Fla
Waters WE (1955) Sequential sampling in forest insect surveys. Forestry Sci 1:68–79
Wells JW, Lang JC (1973) Appendix. Systematic list of Jamaican shallow-water Scleractinia. Bull Mar Sci 23(1):55–58
Yarranton GA (1966) A plotless method of sampling vegetation. J Ecol 54:229–37
Zar JH (1984) Biostatistical analysis, 2nd edn. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, pp 178–201
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Chiappone, M., Sullivan, K.M. A comparison of line transect versus linear percentage sampling for evaluating stony coral (Scleractinia andMilleporina) community similarity and area coverage on reefs of the central Bahamas. Coral Reefs 10, 139–154 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00572173
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00572173