INFLUENCE OF ANTECEDENT WATER TEMPERATURES ON STANDING CROP OF A SARGASSUM SPP DOMINATED REEF FLAT IN HAWAII

The standing crop of seaweeds was estimated monthly over a 22 mo period from 1971 to 1973 on a reef at Waikiki, Honolulu, Hawaii. Wet and dry standing crops averaged 1.2 and 0.26 kg m-2, respectively. Approximately 70% of the total biomass was contributed by a single species, Sargassum polyphyllum, and the remainder was contributed by 29 other species. The size of the total standing crop and of S. polyphyllum in particular was highly correlated with antecedent water temperatures. The highest correlation was with temperatures recorded 3 to 4 wk prior to the estimate of standing crop. Approximately 65% of the variability of the standing crop on the reef was explained by this single variable. Multiple linear-regression analyses did not uncover further significant environmental factors related to the S. polyphyllum standing crop. Temperature may have acted by stimulating the vegetative growth of new plants between the period of minimal abundance in February and maximal abundance in October. The population decline after November relates to the switch to reproductive growth. Total productivity on the reef was estimated to be 16 800 to 19 314 kg dry wt ha-1 yr-1, based on the average size of the standing crop and estimates of removal rate and turnover time, respectively. © 1990 Springer-Verlag.