Abstract
The growth of both undisturbed colonies and transplants of the branching coral Acropora pulchra (Brook) was studied over a 17-month period in the reef of Bolinao, Pangasinan, northern Philippines. Growth rate was monitored using linear measurement techniques. Of the environmental factors measured, both temperature and day length, in the range of natural conditions encountered, correlated negatively with the growth and branching of the undisturbed corals and, to a lesser extent, growth of the transplants. Temperature, in addition, appeared to affect mortality of the transplants significantly. Using various methods of computation of data for the undisturbed colonies, the projected annual growth rate of the species was found to range from 13.1 to 15.8 cm yr-1. Growth rates of the transplants were in general considerably lower.
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Communicated by M. Anraku, Hiroshima
Contribution No. 100 of the Marine Sciences Center, University of the Philippines
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Yap, H.T., Gomez, E.D. Growth of Acropora pulchra . Mar. Biol. 81, 209–215 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00393119
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00393119