Abstract
Four hurricanes impacted the reefs of Florida in 2005. In this study, we evaluate the combined impacts of hurricanes Dennis, Katrina, Rita, and Wilma on a population of Acropora palmata using a newly developed video-mosaic methodology that provides a high-resolution, spatially accurate landscape view of the reef benthos. Storm damage to A. palmata was surprisingly limited; only 2 out of 19 colonies were removed from the study plot at Molasses Reef. The net tissue losses for those colonies that remained were only 10% and mean diameter of colonies decreased slightly from 88.4 to 79.6 cm. In contrast, the damage to the reef framework was more severe, and a large section (6 m in diameter) was dislodged, overturned, and transported to the bottom of the reef spur. The data presented here show that two-dimensional video-mosaic technology is well-suited to assess the impacts of physical disturbance on coral reefs and can be used to complement existing survey methodologies.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 254-258 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Marine Ecology |
Volume | 28 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jun 1 2007 |
Keywords
- Acropora palmata
- Florida
- Hurricane damage
- Reef framework damage
- Video-mosaics
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Aquatic Science