Regenerative functions and microbial ecology of coral reefs. I. Assays for microbial population

Abstract

Sediments obtained from complex internal reef spaces at Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, and Eniwetok Atoll, Marshall Is., were apparently homologous to the surface sediments of flat-bottomed aquatic environments. The sediments were heavily populated by bacteria, among which were numerous chitin- and agar-digesting species. Some bacteria and fungi from the reef sediments were capable of digesting a relatively insoluble organic residue obtained from thalli of a calcareous reef alga (Porolilhon sp.). Some elementary analyses of the reef sediments are presented for use in making comparisons of bacterial counts between stations.Arguments are made for the existence of an efficient system of mineralization based on the unique biogenic structure and high organismic diversity of coral reefs.