Productivity of a coral reef using boundary layer and enclosure methods

Abstract

The metabolism of Cayo Enrique Reef, Puerto Rico, was studied using in situ methods during March 2009. Benthic O 2 fluxes were used to calculate net community production using both the boundary layer gradient and enclosure techniques. The boundary layer O 2 gradient and the drag coefficients were used to calculate productivity ranging from -12.3 to 13.7 mmol O 2 m -2 h -1. Productivity measurements from the enclosure method ranged from -11.0 to 12.9 mmol O 2 m -2 h -1. During the study, the mean hourly difference between the methods was 0.65 mmol O 2 m -2 h -1 (r 2 = 0.92), resulting in well-reconciled estimates of net community production between the boundary layer (-33.1 mmol m -2 d -1) and enclosure (-46.3 mmol m -2 d -1) techniques. The results of these independent approaches corroborate quantified rates of metabolism at Cayo Enrique Reef. Close agreement between methods demonstrates that boundary layer measurements can provide near real-time assessments of coral reef health. Copyright © 2011 by the American Geophysical Union.