XVI International Botanical Congess
ENCORE (Enrichment of Nutrient on a Coral Reef Experiment), which ran as a multidisciplinary program on the Great Barrier Reef from 1993-1997, tested the paradigm that coral reef algae are held in check by low nutrients, and that enhanced levels of nutrients, particularly N & P, stimulate algal growth to the detriment of corals and other organisms. The results on the epilithic algal community (EAC) showed that there was no effect of enrichment, on a) the standing crop, b) the growth, c) the primary production, or d) the nutrient uptake of the EAC. Grazing or lack of nutrient penetration to the EAC were also shown not to be responsible. The conclusion was that the EAC was nutrient sufficient. These results will be discussed in terms of a diffusive boundary layer in which the major control is diffusion of carbon species for photosynthesis.