Latitudinal limits of coral reef growth

Abstract

In the Abrolhos Islands, site of a high-latitude coral reef, the net rate of community calcification is high but growth of frame-building corals is reduced. Our studles suggest that the latitudinal limits of coral reef development are often set by competition of macroalgae with corals, and that macroalgae are favoured at these latitudes by high nutrient concentrations, moderate water temperatures (for macroalgae) and possibly by reduced grazing pressure, while coral growth is reduced by temperatures which, for reef corals, are low. INTRODUCTION