The conditions that favor successful colonization of new areas by sessile plants and animals must be elucidated before community dynamics and structure can be fully understood. This study investigates habitat-specific factors that potentially affect the demographic patterns of recruitment, early growth, and survivorship of two species of opportunistic corals, Pocillopora verrucosa and P. eydouxi, that are recolonizing a disturbed coral reef environment. The importance of competition with filamentous and fleshy algae and protection from grazers on the distribution and survivorship of coral spat and young corals will be assessed with field surveys and manipulative experiments. Habitat- specific demographic parameters will be determined for three patch types (areas of high cover of filamentous algae, areas with high density of fleshy algae, and areas of heavy grazing and high cover of crustose algae) in both back-reef and fore-reef habitats. Coral reefs are extremely important habitats in the world's oceans. This is the first study of recolonization of a disturbed reef to emphasize the role of the mosaic nature of the landscape on establishment and growth of young corals. Algal cover is an important variable on disturbed or degraded reefs that may affect recovery of the hard coral community. Understanding this interaction and the underlying processes in community recovery is essential for management and conservation of coral reef systems.
