Coral Reef Monitoring: From Cytological Parameters to Community Indices

Table 5

Results of the regression between the ecological indices obtained from the young coral communities and the cytological test results of samples from these communities. Correlation tests were conducted between the average values of each of the indices and the cytological tests at each station. In each square, the top figure is 𝑟² and the bottom is the 𝑃 value. Bold figures mark significant correlations (𝑃<0.05). In the cytological tests, MNT: micronucleus test, SSBs: −log of single strand breakage value, Es a: esterase activity, Sty: Stylophora pistillata and Po: Pocillopora damicornis.

		MNT Sty	MNT Po	SSBs Sty	SSBs Po	Es a Sty	Es a Po
Simpson’s index	𝑟^2	0.003	0.055	0.023	0.022	0.015	0.018
	𝑃	0.843	0.420	0.601	0.612	0.675	0.643
Shannon’s index	𝑟^2	0.006	0.001	0.002	0.002	0.004	0.004
	𝑃	0.794	0.902	0.880	0.880	0.823	0.823
d/dmax	𝑟^2	0.177	0.233	0.187	0.181	0.159	0.173
	𝑃	0.134	0.080	0.123	0.129	0.157	0.139
H/Hmax	𝑟^2	0.081	0.133	0.090	0.086	0.073	0.090
	𝑃	0.326	0.200	0.296	0.308	0.349	0.297
Coral abundance	𝑟^2	0.004	0.011	<0.001	<0.001	0.011	0.013
	𝑃	0.821	0.724	0.980	0.991	0.720	0.695
Coral live cover	𝑟^2	0.049	0.076	0.051	0.057	0.043	0.013
	𝑃	0.446	0.340	0.437	0.413	0.475	0.700
Branch avr. size	𝑟^2	0.271	0.287	0.173	0.178	0.086	0.043
	𝑃	0.056	0.065	0.139	0.133	0.309	0.043
% small branch	𝑟^2	0.206	0.239	0.154	0.153	0.080	0.079
	𝑃	0.103	0.076	0.165	0.167	0.328	0.329
% dead branch	𝑟^2	0.103	0.083	0.075	0.078	0.092	0.096
	𝑃	0.264	0.318	0.344	0.335	0.292	0.281
DI	𝑟^2	0.380	0.426	0.311	0.312	0.257	0.228
	𝑃	0.019	0.011	0.038	0.038	0.064	0.085
		MNT Sty	MNT Po	SSBs Sty	SSBs Po	Es a Sty	Es a Po