The effect of Hurricane Allen on the Bellairs fringing reef, Barbados

Mah, Anmarie J.; Stearn, Colin W.

doi:10.1007/bf00427938

Cited by 37 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…The transects were aligned perpendicular to the shore and spaced at suitable intervals so as to include the full length of the reefs. Five adchtional transects were sampled for each reef along the grooves or channels between the ridges (Stearn & Riding 1973, Mah & Stearn 1986). …”

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confidence: 99%

Testing the coral fragment size-dependent survivorship hypothesis for the calcareous hydrozoan Millepora complanata

Lewis¹

1991

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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ABSTRACT. The distribution of living colonies of the calcareous hydrozoan Millepora complanata and broken and reattached millepore fragments was examined in m* quadrats along line transects on fringing reefs at Barbados, West Indies. Of the broken fragments 35 % reattached, but survival was not found to be size-dependent, in contrast to reports of breakage in Scleractinia. The number of reattached fragments was positively correlated with the total number of fragments and with the number of quadrats containing mlllepore colonies. It is proposed that fragmentation has a selective advantage because of the high survival rate of fragments and that there should be an advantage to increasing colony size in the population because the risk of breakage increases with colony size.

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

Testing the coral fragment size-dependent survivorship hypothesis for the calcareous hydrozoan Millepora complanata

Lewis¹

1991

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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“…As observed in A. glauca, no physical damage was detected in this branching coral species at both study sites during the severe cyclone impacts that occurred in 1997 and 1999. Corals of such growth form have been reported to suffer most after the impacts of physical disturbances (Mah and Stearn, 1986;Lirman and Fong, 1997). The relative resistance of A. glauca towards physical disturbances observed in the present study indicates that the branching corals found at the study sites may be the remaining populations that have been selected by recurring cyclone impacts over a long period of time and have developed some disturbance-adaptive strategies similar to those of Acropora sp., such as thicker anchoring stem of unusual structural strength (Schuhmacher and Plewka, 1981) and orientation of growing branches parallel to the prevailing water flow to minimize breakage (Graus et al, 1977;Schuhmacher and Plewka, 1981).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Repeated physical disturbances and the stability of sub‐tropical coral communities in Hong Kong, China

Tam

Ang

2008

Aquatic Conservation

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ABSTRACT1. This paper reports on the dynamics of the coral community structure at A Ma Wan (AMW) and A Ye Wan (AYW) in Tung Ping Chau, Hong Kong, focusing on data collected before and after the summer typhoon seasons in 1997 to 1999. This period (1999) experienced the highest frequency of severe tropical cyclones to hit Hong Kong with one cyclone being the strongest to hit in the last 23 years (1984 to 2006).2. This is part of a long-term monitoring programme of subtropical coral communities that has been set up in AMW since May 1997 and AYW since May 1998 with nine fixed position 40 m long transects and 0.5 m Â 0.5 m permanent quadrats laid at 5 m intervals along each transect. A total of 45 scleractinian coral species from 21 genera (12 families) was recorded, with 40 species in AMW and 32 species in AYW recorded at the beginning of the study.3. Multidimensional scaling ordinations showed distinct spatial variations in the coral communities within and between sites. These variations were probably a result of the differential effects of the repeated cyclone impacts on the communities. Cyphastrea serailia, Goniopora lobata, Montipora peltiformis and Pavona decussata were the dominant species most strongly affected by cyclone impacts at AMW, experiencing a 6.2-16.2% loss of mean area cover during the study period. Some dominant species (e.g. P. decussata) in AYW also experienced a 6.5-14.3% loss of mean area cover within the same period.4. Overall, these coral community structures appeared relatively stable and resistant to repeated physical disturbances. However, they may have low resilience towards more severe disturbances in the future. Preserving the resilience of coral communities/species in Tung Ping Chau should be one of the main goals of coral conservation strategies for the island.

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“…The increased cover of sand and sand over rock substrates was expected, given that hurricanes are known to cause a high transport of sediments (Mah andStearn 1986, Reading 1990), causing burial of benthic substrates (Fourqurean and Rutten 2004). This concurs with the high erosion of coral reefs Gil 2006, Álvarez del Castillo-Cárdenas et al 2008) and sandy beaches (R Cudney, pers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of hurricanes on the stability of reef-associated landscapes

2011

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The effects of Hurricane Emily (July 2005, Category 4) on nine different benthic substrates in the reef-associated landscape along the west coast of Cozumel (Mexico) were evaluated by comparing the cover of nine types of substrate on ground-truthed sites before (ten months) and after (two months) the hurricane. Four substrates showed significant differences (Wilcoxon signed-rank test, P < 0.05). Coverage of sand and sand over rock increased, while that of seagrass and hard corals decreased. The effects of the hurricane on soft corals diminished below 10 m depth. Sites between 0.5 and 5.5 m were less affected towards the southwest of the island, where the reefs are more developed. Algal cover was similar to pre-hurricane values after two months, which suggests fast algal recolonization. Cozumel reefs are considered to be healthy; however, a possible increase in the abundance of macroalgae as a result of hurricanes coupled with poorly regulated tourism activities could eventually favor a phase shift in the system.

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The effect of Hurricane Allen on the Bellairs fringing reef, Barbados

Cited by 37 publications

References 34 publications

Testing the coral fragment size-dependent survivorship hypothesis for the calcareous hydrozoan Millepora complanata

Testing the coral fragment size-dependent survivorship hypothesis for the calcareous hydrozoan Millepora complanata

Repeated physical disturbances and the stability of sub‐tropical coral communities in Hong Kong, China

Effects of hurricanes on the stability of reef-associated landscapes

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