Global warming and coral reefs: modelling the effect of temperature on Acropora Palmata colony growth
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Abstract
Data on colony growth of the branching coral Acropora palmata from fringing reefs off Discovery Bay on the north coast of Jamaica have been obtained over the period 2002-2007 using underwater photography and image analysis by both SCUBA and remotely using an ROV incorporating twin lasers. Growth modelling shows that while logarithmic growth is an approximate model for growth, a 3:3 rational polynomial function provides a significantly better fit to growth data for this coral species. Over the period 2002-2007, involving several cycles of sea surface temperature (SST) change, the rate of growth of A. palmata was largely proportional to rate of change of SST, with R(2)=0.935. These results have implications for the influence of global warming and climate change on coral reef ecosystems.Citation
Crabbe, M.J.C. (2007) 'Global warming and coral reefs: modelling the effect of temperature on Acropora Palmata colony growth', Computational Biology and Chemistry, 31(4), pp.294-297Publisher
ElsevierAdditional Links
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17631417Type
ArticleLanguage
enISSN
14769271ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1016/j.compbiolchem.2007.05.001