Synonyms
Carbon dynamics
Definition
The carbon fluxes of coral reefs are the rates of carbon exchange between sea water and reef organisms, communities, and habitats. They characterize key biochemical processes such as photosynthesis, respiration, and calcification, as well as important biogeochemical transformations such as diagenesis and dissolution. Fluxes are reported as rates of exchange per area.
Introduction
A coral reef is a living structure that maintains itself at sea level by the combined biogenic calcification of a variety of taxa. A healthy, sustainable coral reef ecosystem is comprised of diverse communities that capture and utilize energy from sunlight, waves, and organic particles. The motivation for studying carbon fluxes of coral reefs is to delineate and characterize these rates of energy transfer in order to compare reefs with other ecosystems and to compare among reefs, and to predict responses of reefs to natural or anthropogenic perturbations.
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Atkinson, M.J. (2011). Carbon Fluxes of Coral Reefs. In: Hopley, D. (eds) Encyclopedia of Modern Coral Reefs. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2639-2_52
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2639-2_52
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
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