Spatial patterns and ecology of benthic communities on a high-latitude South Florida (Broward County, USA) reef system Export

@article{citeulike:3126115, abstract = {High-latitude reef communities consisting of typical Caribbean fauna of variable composition and density exist on four parallel ridges at varying depths along the Broward County (Florida, USA) coast. Two of these ridges, at 7\&\#8211;13 and 15\&\#8211;30\&\#160;m in depth, are drowned early Holocene coral reefs of 5 and 7\&\#160;ky uncorrected radiocarbon age. In this study, community data were collected on each reef using 50-m, line-intercept transects. Using multivariate non-metric statistics, the data show distinct differences in benthic community structure across several spatial gradients. Diversity indices revealed that while all values were low, species diversity (H') was consistent throughout the county, and species richness (d) and evenness (J') increased along a north-south gradient. Scleractinian coral (27 species) cover was low (Montastrea cavernosa dominated as the major hermatypic scleractinian. Notably absent was the major Caribbean reef-builder Acropora palmata. A rich alcyonacean fauna was present on all studied reefs, and these were typically the most important faunal group determining community structure. Although during the 2-year period 2000\&\#8211;2002 mean water temperatures never fell below 20\&\#160;\&\#176;C, scleractinia were small in size.}, author = {Moyer, Ryan P. and Riegl, Bernhard and Banks, Kenneth and Dodge, Richard E.}, citeulike-article-id = {3126115}, citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00338-003-0334-1}, day = {17}, doi = {10.1007/s00338-003-0334-1}, journal = {Coral Reefs}, keywords = {benthic, broward, coral, county, ecology, florida, high-latitude, patterns, reef, reefs, spatial}, month = {December}, number = {4}, pages = {447--464}, posted-at = {2008-08-15 21:10:49}, priority = {0}, title = {Spatial patterns and ecology of benthic communities on a high-latitude South Florida (Broward County, USA) reef system}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00338-003-0334-1}, volume = {22}, year = {2003} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:3126115 L3 - citeulike-article-id:3126115 N2 - High-latitude reef communities consisting of typical Caribbean fauna of variable composition and density exist on four parallel ridges at varying depths along the Broward County (Florida, USA) coast. Two of these ridges, at 7–13 and 15–30 m in depth, are drowned early Holocene coral reefs of 5 and 7 ky uncorrected radiocarbon age. In this study, community data were collected on each reef using 50-m, line-intercept transects. Using multivariate non-metric statistics, the data show distinct differences in benthic community structure across several spatial gradients. Diversity indices revealed that while all values were low, species diversity (H') was consistent throughout the county, and species richness (d) and evenness (J') increased along a north-south gradient. Scleractinian coral (27 species) cover was low (Montastrea cavernosa dominated as the major hermatypic scleractinian. Notably absent was the major Caribbean reef-builder Acropora palmata. A rich alcyonacean fauna was present on all studied reefs, and these were typically the most important faunal group determining community structure. Although during the 2-year period 2000–2002 mean water temperatures never fell below 20 °C, scleractinia were small in size. IS - 4 JF - Coral Reefs EP - 464 TI - Spatial patterns and ecology of benthic communities on a high-latitude South Florida (Broward County, USA) reef system VL - 22 SP - 447 KW - benthic KW - broward KW - coral KW - county KW - ecology KW - florida KW - high-latitude KW - patterns KW - reef KW - reefs KW - spatial AU - Moyer, Ryan AU - Riegl, Bernhard AU - Banks, Kenneth AU - Dodge, Richard PY - 2003/12/17/ UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00338-003-0334-1 ER -