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Primary Productivity and Biogeochemical Cycles in the Sea pp 257–271Cite as

Productivity of Zooxanthellae and Biogeochemical Cycles

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Part of the book series: Environmental Science Research ((ESRH,volume 43))

Abstract

Symbiotic dinoflagellates (zooxanthellae) are dominant primary producers in tropical reef communities along with benthic algae (macrophytes), unicellular and filamentous sand algae, turf algae, sea grasses, and phytoplankton (Larkum, 1983). Zooxanthellae are widely distributed and abundant in the cells of foraminiferans, radiolarians, sponges, cnidarians and molluscs. Among the cnidarians, they inhabit true stony corals, soft corals, gorgonians, sea anemones, milleporines, zoanthids, and hydrozoans. Although all of these taxa are represented on coral reefs and contribute to reef productivity, corals are most often used as models for productivity of zooxanthellae. This is because zooxanthellae population densities often exceed 106 cells per cm2 of the surface area of the coral (Muscatine, 1980), corals cover from 10% to 50% of the projected surface area of many reefs (Larkum, 1983), and coral reef communities cover 6 × 105 km2 of the world’s oceans (Smith, 1978). Corals emerge as the source of the most detailed information. Moreover, measurement of coral productivity has now achieved sufficient precision and standardization so that results from a wide range of studies can easily be compared.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90024, USA

    Leonard Muscatine & Virginia Weis

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  1. Leonard Muscatine
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  2. Virginia Weis
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oceanographic and Atmospheric, Sciences Division, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY, 11973, USA

    Paul G. Falkowski

  2. Biology Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY, 11973, USA

    Avril D. Woodhead

  3. Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY, USA

    Katherine Vivirito

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© 1992 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Muscatine, L., Weis, V. (1992). Productivity of Zooxanthellae and Biogeochemical Cycles. In: Falkowski, P.G., Woodhead, A.D., Vivirito, K. (eds) Primary Productivity and Biogeochemical Cycles in the Sea. Environmental Science Research, vol 43. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0762-2_14

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0762-2_14

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4899-0764-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-0762-2

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