Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles
ORCID
0000-0002-6003-9324
ResearcherID
F-8807-2011
Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Scientific Reports
ISSN
2045-2322
Publication Date
2016
Keywords
Ecological modelling, Environmental sciences, Tropical ecology
Abstract
Population models are important for resource management and can inform about potential trajectories useful for planning purposes, even with incomplete monitoring data. From size frequency data on Luhuitou fringing reef, Hainan, South China Sea, a matrix population model of massive corals (Porites lutea) was developed and trajectories over 100 years under no disturbance and random disturbances were projected. The model reflects a largely open population of Porites lutea, with low local recruitment and preponderance of imported recruitment. Under no further disturbance, the population of Porites lutea will grow and its size structure will change from predominance of small size classes to large size classes. Therewith, total Porites cover will increase. Even under random disturbances every 10 to 20 years, the Porites population could remain viable, albeit at lower space cover. The models suggest recovery at Luhuitou following the removal of chronic anthropogenic disturbance. Extending the area of coral reef reserves to protect the open coral community and the path of connectivity is advisable and imperative for the conservation of Hainan’s coral reefs.
DOI
10.1038/srep33324
Volume
6
Issue
33324
First Page
1
Last Page
11
Additional Comments
National Key Basic Research Program of China project #: 2013CB956101; National Natural Science Foundation of China project #s: 91428203, 41272199, 41506061, 41302281; Chinese Academy of Sciences project #: XDA05080301
NSUWorks Citation
Meixia Zhao, Bernhard Riegl, Kefu Yu, Qi Shi, Qiaomin Zhang, Guohui Liu, Hongqiang Yang, and Hongquiang Yan. 2016. Model Suggests Potential for Porites Coral Population Recovery After Removal of Anthropogenic Disturbance (Luhuitou, Hainan, South China Sea) .Scientific Reports , (33324) : 1 -11. https://nsuworks.nova.edu/occ_facarticles/783.
Comments
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