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Status

Status

Data

Data Needs

One of the highest Caribbean reef accretion rates was

This indicator needs to be further developed.

reported at Alacran Reef in Mexico (about 12m/1000

Existing reef accretion rate data need to be synthesized

years)38. In general, coral reefs "grow" approximately

for the region and compared with recent ecological

2 m to 10 m every thousand years, with that rate

data.

being influenced in part by the different growth rates

of different coral species. Disturbances, particularly

Methods for evaluating gross production, calcification,

hurricanes, can remove carbonate material and

respiration and net production need to be evaluated

confound the analysis of the cores39.

in terms of their potential use for or adaptation to

monitoring studies.

Gross production rates generally range between 0.8

and 1.4 kg/m2/yr for whole reefs, and between 2.1

to 8.9 kg/m2/yr for specific reef zones. An average

coral reef can accrete roughly 4 kg/m2 of limestone

per year37.

Richard B. Aronson

F10

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