NEARSHORE AND SHELF-EDGE OCULINA CORAL REEFS: THE EFFECTS OF 

 UPWELLING ON CORAL GROWTH AND ON THE ASSOCIATED 

 FAUNAL COMMUNITIES 



John K. Reed 



Harbor Branch Foundation, Inc 



Ft. Pierce, Florida 



Rt. 1, Box 196 

 33450 



ABSTRACT 



Colonies of Ocul i na vari cosa were collected from nearshore, mid- 

 shelf, and shelf-edge reefs off central eastern Florida. The shelf- 

 edge reefs are inundated episodically throughout the year by upwell- 

 ing of cool, nutrient rich water. On the inner shelf, cyclic 

 seasonal factors predominate and upwelling intrudes only for a few 

 weeks during the summer. Growth rates of the coral are significantly 

 greater on the shelf-edge reefs than nearshore, even though at the 

 shelf-edge temperatures are cooler and the coral lacks zooxanthel 1 ae. 

 Species diversities of assemblages of decapods and mollusks associ- 

 ated with the coral are greater at the shelf-edge reef than at the 

 mid- and inner-shelf reefs. It is suggested that the upwelling of 

 nutrient rich water onto the shelf-edge Ocul i n a reefs enhances the 

 growth rate of the coral and facilitates the greater species diversity 

 of the associated faunal communities compared to the inner-shelf 

 reefs . 



INTRODUCTION 



Fl ori 

 vari c 



High 

 da a 

 osa 



on th 



water 



epi so 



year, 



few w 



upwel 



Novem 



event 



prima 



fish 



and T 



targe 



ture 



prima 



Genti 



Ocul i 



menta 

 epi so 



e sh 

 ree 



di c 

 whe 



eeks 



1 ing 



ber 



s of 



ry P 



popu 



arge 



ted 



on k 



ry s 



en , 



This 



na 



T - pa 



die 



lat 

 re c 

 Lesu 

 elf, 

 fs ( 

 upwe 

 reas 



dur 



occ 

 to A 

 f ce 

 rodu 

 lati 

 tt, 

 as t 

 el p 

 ourc 

 1982 



pap 

 reef 

 rame 

 upwe 



i tud 



ompr 

 eu r 



ran 

 Reed 

 llin 



the 

 ing 

 urre 

 pri 1 

 ntra 

 cti o 

 ons 

 1983 

 he p 

 beds 

 e of 



)• 



er c 

 s on 

 ters 

 llin 



e cora 

 i sed o 

 1820. 

 ging f 

 , 1980 

 g of c 

 nears 

 the su 

 d al on 

 , and 

 1 Flor 

 n with 

 (Atkin 

 ). Up 

 rimary 

 off S 

 n u t r i 



1 re 

 f a 



Dis 

 rom 



)• 

 old 

 hore 

 mmer 

 9 th 

 Smi t 

 i da . 



a c 

 son , 

 wel 1 



det 

 . Af 

 ents 



ef s 



sing 



June 



near 



The 



and 



ree 

 . Y 

 e so 

 h (1 

 Up 

 onco 



et 

 ing 

 ermi 

 ri ca 



for 



i n t 

 1 e s 

 t po 

 shor 

 shel 

 nutr 

 f s a 

 oder 

 uthe 

 981) 

 wel 1 

 mmi t 

 al., 

 and 

 nant 

 (Wu 

 the 



he we 

 pecie 

 pul at 

 e sha 

 f-edg 

 i ent 

 re af 

 , et 

 ast U 



docu 

 ing i 

 ant i 



1978 

 downw 



of t 

 Iff a 



Grea 



stern 

 s of b 

 ions o 

 1 1 ow r 

 e reef 

 rich w 

 f ected 

 aH. (1 

 . S . ov 

 mented 

 s know 

 ncreas 

 ; Paff 

 e 1 1 i n g 

 he ben 

 nd Fie 

 t Barr 



Atl ant 

 r a n c h i 

 f the 

 eef s t 

 s are 

 ater t 



by up 

 983) r 

 er 50% 



summe 

 n to c 

 e i n z 

 enhbf e 



event 

 thi c c 

 Id, 19 

 i er Re 



1 c o 

 ng c 

 cora 

 o sh 

 subj 

 hrou 

 wel 1 

 epor 



of 

 r up 

 ause 

 oopl 

 r, 1 

 s ha 

 ommu 

 83) 

 ef ( 



f f cen 

 oral , 

 1 are 

 elf-ed 

 ect to 

 ghout 

 ing on 

 ted th 

 the ti 

 w e 1 1 i n 

 i ncre 

 ankton 

 980; A 

 ve bee 

 n i ty s 

 and as 

 Andrew 



tral 

 Ocul i n a 

 present 

 ge deep- 



the 

 ly a 

 at 

 me from 



g 



ased 



and 

 tki nson 

 n 

 truc- 



a 

 s and 



ompares the growth and community structure of 



the inner shelf where cyclic and seasonal environ- 



predominate, to reefs on the outer shelf where 



g occurs year round. 



METHODS AND MATERIALS 



Colonies of Ocul i na 

 reef (27°30'N, 80°17'W) 



van cosa 

 and with 



were sampled with SCUBA at the 6 m 

 the Johnson-Sea-Link submersibles at 



119 



