Patterns and possible environmental controls of skeletogenesis of Porites lutea, South Thailand

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.

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