Methodological recommendations for assessing scleractinian and octocoral recruitment to settlement tiles.

ABSTRACT: Quantifying recruitment of corals is important for evaluating their capacity to recover after disturbances through natural processes, yet measuring recruitment rates in situ is challenging due to the minute size of the study organism and the complexity of benthic communities. Settlement tiles are widely used in studies of coral recruitment because they can be viewed under a microscope to enhance accuracy, but methodological choices such as the rugosity of tiles used and when and how to scan tiles for recruits post-collection may cause inconsistencies in measured recruitment rates. We deployed 2,880 tiles with matching rugosity on top and bottom surfaces to 30 sites along the Florida Reef Tract for year-long saturations during a three year study. We scanned the top and bottom surface

SUBMITTER: Harper LM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8686733 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature