Overall it was found that the exposed sites had significantly higher average diffusion indices and benthic coral cover (Figs. 2-5). This supports the idea that decreasing the boundary layer has a positive effect on conditions that allow scleractinian corals to grow. The experiment directly measured dissolution which indicates a shrinking of the diffuse boundary layer but this is highly indicative water motion, which brings with it its own environmental benefits. Decreasing the boundary layer should allow for greater uptake of nutrients and an increase in the overall mass transfer limits (Atkinson and Falter 2003). This gives corals greater access to food and other limiting resources. Which aligns with previous studies that showed significant …show more content…
By going to other subtidal sites the picture will become clearer. Specifically Figure 6 will become much more reliable as more sites are added to the dataset. It would be interesting to see how other reefs respond to changes in diffusion indices. Offshore, inshore, patch and barrier reefs would greatly to add the reliability and scope of the dataset if the trend holds. The study lends itself well to replication and scaling as it can be taken anywhere so long as more clod cards can be made and the timing between drying, deployment and pickup are kept constant. Adding more clods, photo quadrats, and transects per site will greatly increase the representativeness. Another take on this experiment would be to conduct it between specific depth zones on reefs to see if flow rates are different and if they are correlating with changes in the coral communities. Additionally fish and invertebrate surveys would give the data set a biotic parameter where those relationships on reefs could compared and tested. More strict guidelines on data collection regarding algae would greatly enhance the scope of that dataset and help to uncover coral algal relationships on reefs. Methods outline in Miller et al (2003) regarding algae identification would be crucial in determining reef productivity, and successional status among other things. For proper understanding of reef dynamics and biotic associations. Taxonomic identification to the algal genera on reefs will paint a much clearer picture of how the system functions (Miller et al