GROWTH RESPONSES OF THE REEF-BUILDING CORAL MONTASTRAEA ANNULARIS ALONG A GRADIENT OF CONTINENTAL INFLUENCE IN THE SOUTHERN GULF OF MEXICO

摘要

Skeletal growth variables [density (g cm~-3), extension rate (cm yr~-1), and calcification rate (g cm~-2 yr~-1)] were determined form annual density bands in skeletal slabs of the reef building coral Montastrea annularis. Colonies growing at the same depth (10 m) were collected from six coral reefs distributed along an environmental gradient of continental influence within the southern Gulf of Mexico.