HURRICANES CAUSE POPULATION EXPANSION OF THE BRANCHING CORAL ACROPORAPALMATA (SCLERACTINIA) - WOUND-HEALING AND GROWTH-PATTERNS OF ASEXUALRECRUITS

Three mechanisms aiding recovery and expansion of a population of Acro pora palmata on a patch reef that was directly in the path of Hurrican e Andrew were documented: rapid wound healing, high rates of asexual r ecruitment, and rapid growth rate of the new recruits. In addition, th e growth pattern of new recruits was assessed in order to quantify the initial sequence of structural changes during the transition from rec ruit to adult morphology. Wound healing was initially rapid (1.59 cm o f linear growth per month), but slowed with time. Nine months after th e storm, 72% of 218 hurricane-generated fragments of A. palmata had ce mented to the bottom, becoming new asexual recruits. Within 18 months of the storm, the number of fragments in the same area had increased t o 271, average fragment size was larger, and 94% had become recruits. Recruits showed complex patterns of branch formation, including rapid growth of solitary proto-branches, differential growth of proto-branch es dependent on recruit orientation, and dominance within aggregates o f proto-branches. We present a conceptual model that suggests A. palma ta is adapted to disturbances of both low intensity and high frequency (conditions typical of reef flat zones) and episodic high intensity a nd low frequency events (hurricanes and tropical storms).