The purpose of this study was to investigate coral growth form richness and percent cover in the Inner Sandy Zone and Outer Living Coral Zone on the Heron Island Reef Flat. Based on previous knowledge of reef zonation with regard to wave energy, turbidity, water temperature, and light availability (Mather and Bennett, 2003), we predicted coral growth form richness and percent cover to be greater in the Outer Living Coral Algae Zone. The line-transect method was used to collect data from each zone and the data were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U Rank Test. Percent coverage and richness of coral was significantly greater (p<0.001) in the Outer Living Coral Zone than the Inner Sandy Zone. The conclusive results of this study provide baseline data concerning richness and percent cover, as well as being useful for future studies on reef health on the Heron Island Reef Flat.

A COMPARISON OF CORAL GROWTH FORMS IN THE INNER SANDY ZONE AND OUTER LIVING CORAL ZONE OF THE HERON ISLAND PLATFORM REEF, GREAT BARRIER REEF, AUSTRALIA