Julian Sprung's email.

Shane Paterson cuda at arches.uga.edu
Fri Sep 1 21:54:33 EDT 2000


On Fri, 25 Aug 2000, Bruce Carlson wrote:

> Bernard,
> 
> Did you also notice that corals in areas with swift flowing water (usually
> from tides) also survived better than nearby reefs with low flows?  I
> noticed this in Fiji on the shallow barrier reef of the University of the
> South Pacific, and in Palau near the lighthouse reef -- both are similar
> reef environments with strong laminar water flow (the water is shallow
> enough to stand up at mid-tide, but the current knocks you over -- I don't
> have a more precise current measurement).  Why would flow rate matter?

More anecdotal stuff along the same lines:

One of the people running the MV _Moonlighting_ liveaboard dive boat in
the Madang area of Papua New Guinea recently told me that the extensive
bleaching that's lately been affecting Madang Lagoon isn't anywhere near
as apparent around the islands further offshore.  Current velocities in
the passes and along the Madang barrier reef can be very high, but the
more distant islands are known for having quite extreme currents.

I don't know how different the water temperatures are at these sites, but
I'd guess that those in the Lagoon are higher and water exchange would
certainly be lower.  Of course, then there are all of the other potential
factors...

Shane

	    <o((((((>{  <o((((((>{  <o((((((>{  <o((((((>{	

			    Shane Paterson				

			 Institute of Ecology			
			 University of Georgia			
			 Athens, Georgia  30602			
				  USA					

		  e-mail:	cuda at arches.uga.edu		
		WWW:	        http://www.uga.edu/cuda		

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