Patterns in the distribution of soft corals across the central Great Barrier Reef

Surveys of soft corals were conducted on 11 inner-shelf, mid-shelf, outer-shelf and Coral Sea reefs between November 1980 and November 1981. The reefs surveyed were Havannah Island, Phillips, Pandora, Davies, John Brewer, Rib, Dip, Myrmidon, Flinders "South". Flinders Cay and Flinders "Southwest". These reefs (except for Davies Reef) were located along an approximately SW-NE transect across the central Great Barrier Reef and into the Coral Sea.Soft coral genera were recorded along 25-40m transects located within contiguous 5m bands (sites) from the reef crest down the reef slope. Reef flat areas adjacent to the reef slope locations were also surveyed along transects generally 40m in length, situated parallel to the reef edge. The total percentage cover of soft corals and the relative percentage cover of each soft coral genus to the total soft coral cover were visually estimated using a 7-point graded cover scale. Soft corals that could not be identified to genus were collected for identification in the laboratory.Environmental data collected at each site included exposure to swell and wave action, depth, angle of slope, approximate percentages of hard and soft substrate, relative proportion of hard and soft substrate types and estimates of the total percentage cover of hard corals. The aim of this study was to describe the distribution of soft corals across the continental shelf and in the Coral Sea in the central region of the Great Barrier Reef. The study was complementary to cross shelf studies of other taxa including fish and hard corals.

1980年11月至1981年11月，研究人员对11座分布于陆架内区、陆架中区、陆架外区及珊瑚海的珊瑚礁开展了软珊瑚调查。本次调查涉及的珊瑚礁包括哈瓦那岛礁（Havannah Island）、菲利普斯礁（Phillips）、潘多拉礁（Pandora）、戴维斯礁（Davies）、约翰·布鲁尔礁（John Brewer）、里布礁（Rib）、迪普礁（Dip）、迈尔米登礁（Myrmidon）、弗林德斯"南"礁（Flinders "South"）、弗林德斯礁屿（Flinders Cay）以及弗林德斯"西南"礁（Flinders "Southwest"）。除戴维斯礁外，其余珊瑚礁均沿大致西南-东北向的样带分布，横跨大堡礁中部区域并延伸至珊瑚海海域。研究人员沿礁坡从礁冠向下的连续5米区间（样点）内，设置25至40米长的样带记录软珊瑚属类。紧邻礁坡区域的礁坪区域也沿平行于礁缘的方向设置了总长约40米的样带开展调查。采用7级盖度分级法，通过目视估算获取软珊瑚总盖度，以及各软珊瑚属类相对于总软珊瑚盖度的相对盖度。对于无法在野外鉴定至属级的软珊瑚样本，研究人员将其采集至实验室完成分类鉴定。各调查样点采集的环境数据包括涌浪与波浪暴露程度、水深、坡角、硬质与软质底质的大致占比、硬质与软质底质类型的相对占比，以及石珊瑚总盖度的估算值。本研究旨在阐明大堡礁中部区域陆架区及珊瑚海海域内软珊瑚的分布格局。本研究可与鱼类、石珊瑚等其他类群的跨陆架调查研究形成互补。