Analysis of a blatant reef flat degradation in la Reunion Island (l'Etang-Salé fringing reef)

Pascale Cuet (1) , Odile Naim (1)

1 ECOMAR - Laboratoire d'Ecologie Marine

Using a synthetised map of biobuilders' vitality, the incoming nutrient-enriched freshwater impact on benthic communities was assessed. A coral community survey was achieved in one rainy season. Reef water salinity and dissolved inorganic nutrient content were analysed during a rainy and a dry season. A high degree of coral mortality (90- 100%) was found on the outer reef flat, where the dead substrate was covered up to 80°h by boring sponges. According to hydrology and biological in- dicators, degradation may be attributed to an ac- cumulation of organic matter, issued presumably from sugar cane refinery waste water. Inner Scler- actinians are submitted to nutrient-enriched (mainly N) submarine groundwater discharge, but coral degradation (turf-coral concurrence) was only found along the inner edge of the reef flat, which further receives P coming from the necrotized area of the reef flat.

Domaines: Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]

Pascale Cuet, Odile Naim. Analysis of a blatant reef flat degradation in la Reunion Island (l'Etang-Salé fringing reef). R.H. Richmond. 7th International Coral Reef Symposium, Jun 1992, Guam, Guam. 1, pp.313-322, 1992, Proceedings of the 7th International Coral Reef Symposium Guam. ⟨hal-00913776⟩