... in, the water around the coral is often prone to low oxygen levels. Three factors contribute to the low oxygen levels in this setting. The first is the obvious reason of restricted movement of current, not allowing for proper oxygenation. The second occurs when night falls and phototrophs can no longer perform photosynthesis, stopping their normal production of oxygen as a byproduct. The third factor is less significant but should still be considered; the coral and surrounding organisms continue to go through respiration and consume oxygen for use as the terminal electron acceptor in the electron transport chain. Extremely low spring tides present an even greater problem because they occasionally remove enough water from the reef to leave the coral standing high and dry for up to four hours. There were several phases that made up the experiment, all of which were conducted at the Lizard Island Research Station on ...

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