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A simple technique for measuring buoyant weight increment of entire, transplanted coral colonies in the field

Estimating the impacts of global and local threats on coral reefs requires monitoring reef health and measuring coral growth and calcification rates at different time scales. This has traditionally been mostly performed in short-term experimental studies in which coral fragments were grown in the la...

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Autores principales: Herler, Jürgen, Dirnwöber, Markus
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: North-Holland Pub. Co 2011
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3173722/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22049248
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2011.06.022
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author Herler, Jürgen
Dirnwöber, Markus
author_facet Herler, Jürgen
Dirnwöber, Markus
author_sort Herler, Jürgen
collection PubMed
description Estimating the impacts of global and local threats on coral reefs requires monitoring reef health and measuring coral growth and calcification rates at different time scales. This has traditionally been mostly performed in short-term experimental studies in which coral fragments were grown in the laboratory or in the field but measured ex situ. Practical techniques in which growth and measurements are performed over the long term in situ are rare. Apart from photographic approaches, weight increment measurements have also been applied. Past buoyant weight measurements under water involved a complicated and little-used apparatus. We introduce a new method that combines previous field and laboratory techniques to measure the buoyant weight of entire, transplanted corals under water. This method uses an electronic balance fitted into an acrylic glass underwater housing and placed atop of an acrylic glass cube. Within this cube, corals transplanted onto artificial bases can be attached to the balance and weighed at predetermined intervals while they continue growth in the field. We also provide a set of simple equations for the volume and weight determinations required to calculate net growth rates. The new technique is highly accurate: low error of weight determinations due to variation of coral density (< 0.08%) and low standard error (< 0.01%) for repeated measurements of the same corals. We outline a transplantation technique for properly preparing corals for such long-term in situ experiments and measurements.
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spelling pubmed-31737222011-10-31 A simple technique for measuring buoyant weight increment of entire, transplanted coral colonies in the field Herler, Jürgen Dirnwöber, Markus J Exp Mar Bio Ecol Article Estimating the impacts of global and local threats on coral reefs requires monitoring reef health and measuring coral growth and calcification rates at different time scales. This has traditionally been mostly performed in short-term experimental studies in which coral fragments were grown in the laboratory or in the field but measured ex situ. Practical techniques in which growth and measurements are performed over the long term in situ are rare. Apart from photographic approaches, weight increment measurements have also been applied. Past buoyant weight measurements under water involved a complicated and little-used apparatus. We introduce a new method that combines previous field and laboratory techniques to measure the buoyant weight of entire, transplanted corals under water. This method uses an electronic balance fitted into an acrylic glass underwater housing and placed atop of an acrylic glass cube. Within this cube, corals transplanted onto artificial bases can be attached to the balance and weighed at predetermined intervals while they continue growth in the field. We also provide a set of simple equations for the volume and weight determinations required to calculate net growth rates. The new technique is highly accurate: low error of weight determinations due to variation of coral density (< 0.08%) and low standard error (< 0.01%) for repeated measurements of the same corals. We outline a transplantation technique for properly preparing corals for such long-term in situ experiments and measurements. North-Holland Pub. Co 2011-10-31 /pmc/articles/PMC3173722/ /pubmed/22049248 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2011.06.022 Text en © 2011 Elsevier B.V. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ Open Access under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/) license
spellingShingle Article
Herler, Jürgen
Dirnwöber, Markus
A simple technique for measuring buoyant weight increment of entire, transplanted coral colonies in the field
title A simple technique for measuring buoyant weight increment of entire, transplanted coral colonies in the field
title_full A simple technique for measuring buoyant weight increment of entire, transplanted coral colonies in the field
title_fullStr A simple technique for measuring buoyant weight increment of entire, transplanted coral colonies in the field
title_full_unstemmed A simple technique for measuring buoyant weight increment of entire, transplanted coral colonies in the field
title_short A simple technique for measuring buoyant weight increment of entire, transplanted coral colonies in the field
title_sort simple technique for measuring buoyant weight increment of entire, transplanted coral colonies in the field
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3173722/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22049248
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2011.06.022
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