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APPENDIX 1.

Glossary

Biotic

Of, or having to do with life or living organisms. Produced or caused by living organisms.

Browsers

Herbivores that nibble, crop or graze on new growth.

Calcareous

Composed of, containing, or characteristic of, calcium carbonate or calcium; hard.

Calcification

The process by which corals, calcareous algae, and other organisms extract calcium from

seawater and convert it to calcium carbonate.

Calcium carbonate

A colorless or white crystalline compound, CaCO3, occurring naturally as chalk or limestone;

secreted by corals and other marine organisms; the main substance of reefs and seashells.

Carbonate budget

In terms of coral reefs, can be considered as the result of interaction between the opposing

processes of calcification (production of CaCO3) and biological degradation (bioerosion) or

chemical dissolution of CaCO3.

Carbonate saturation

Within the water column, calcium (Ca2+) content varies little, hence the calcium carbonate

saturation state (CSS) is controlled by concentration of carbonate (CO32-) ions, pH, water

state

pressure, temperature and salinity: CSS = (Ca2+) × (CO32-) ÷ K'sp, whereas K'sp is the

equilibrium solubility product for the mineral phase of calcite or aragonite, respectively. Since

the concentration of carbonate ions cannot be measured directly, it is calculated using the

dissociation constants of carbonic acid (H2CO3), and measurable parameters such as total

inorganic carbon dioxide (Σ CO2) dissolved in sea water, alkalinity, pH, and partial pressure of

carbon dioxide exerted by sea water (pCO2).

Carnivory

The act of organisms feeding upon animals.

Catch per unit effort

The number of fish caught by an amount of effort. Catch per unit of effort is often used as a

measurement of relative abundance for a particular fish; the total catch divided by the total

amount of effort (time, gear) used to harvest the catch.

Chlorophyll

Any of a group of green pigments found in chloroplasts of plants, algae & cyanobacteria

(photosynthetic organisms).

CO2 Carbon dioxide

A colorless, odorless, incombustible gas formed during respiration, combustion and organic

decomposition. A main global warming gas.

Colored dissolved

Dissolved organic molecules (such as tannins, pigments, etc.) within a water body that impart

organic matter (CDOM) a green or yellow to brownish coloration to the water.

Community

A naturally occurring assemblage of organisms that live in the same environment and are

mutually sustaining and interdependent; A group of populations that interact in time and

space.

Community structure

The abundance and distribution of species in a given community.

Competition

The simultaneous demand (and competitive interactions) by two or more organisms for limited

environmental resources, such as nutrients, living space or light.

Connectivity

A spatial concept involving the exchange of items like nutrients, pollutants, organisms or

genes. (e.g., larval dispersal). It is measured by using models, tracking larvae, tagging studies,

etc.

Coral bleaching

When the symbiotic algae, zooxanthellae, which live within the corals' tissue are reduced or

lost due to environmental stressors it causes the coral to look white or mottled or pale.

Coral mortality

Coral death, vs. partial mortality (live tissue loss) which may or may not result in coral death.

Corallites

A coral cup; the skeleton of an individual polyp.

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