[Coral-List] Corals and sedimentation/turbidity

goldberg at fiu.edu goldberg at fiu.edu
Fri Jan 26 12:58:02 EST 2007


I found Mike and Gene's discussion of sedimentation and corals interesting and accurate to an extent. However, there has been some experimental work suspended sediment. See for examples, Telesnicki GJ and Goldberg WM. 1995. Effects of turbidity on the photosynthesis and respiration of two south Florida reef coral species. Bulletin of Marine Science 57: 527-539. Anthony KRM. 1999. A tank system for studying benthic aquatic organisms at predictable levels of turbidity and sedimentation: Case study for examining coral growth. Limnol. Oceanogr. 44: 1415-1442. Larcombe et al., 2001. The hydrodynamic and sedimentary setting of nearshore coral reefs, central Great Barrier Reef shelf, Australia: Paluma Shoals, a case study. Sedimentology 48: 811-835. This is not an exhaustive list.

I agree with Mike that NTU's are not particularly helpful, especially in estimating light-attenuating effects of turbidity (see Telesnicki and Goldberg 1995. Bull. Mar Sci.57: 540-547). However, they constitute the statutory basis for turbidity measurement in the US and elsewhere, and we are stuck with NTU'S until regulators see the light.
Walter M. Goldberg
Professor of Biological Sciences
Department of Biological Sciences
Florida International University
University Park Campus
Miami, FL 33199
Telephone (305) 348-3659
email goldberg at fiu.edu  or  polyps at bellsouth.net
URL: http//:www.fiu.edu/~goldberg



More information about the Coral-List mailing list