Table 3. Overview of benthic primary production in coral reef ecosystem compartments and reef-associated tropical coastal habitats.

Benthic ecosystem	Region	Pg	Pn	Pg:R	Source
		(mmol O2 m−2 seafloor area d−1)
Coral-dominated
Reef flats	various Pacific	583±50		1.0±0.1	[4]
Entire reefs	various Pacific	395±58	27±20	1.07±0.1	[3]
Macrophyte-dominated
Reef lagoon	Caribbean	488±59	181±28	1.6±0.4	This study
Seagrass meadows	Tropical	252±14	24±8	1.6	[13]
Macroalgae beds	Central Pacific	520		1.04	[14]
	Caribbean	877	582	3.0	[11]
Sediments
Lagoon sand	Caribbean	19±4	7±4	1.3±0.1	This study
	Northern Red Sea	19±4	−1±2	0.99	[12]
Lagoon soft sediments	SW Pacific	33		0.88	[45]
Reef sand	SC Pacific	91	7	1.07	[21]
Mangroves	mainly Caribbean	633±117	400±83	1.4±0.4	[3]
Estuaries	various Atlantic and Pacific	67±8	−17±8	0.8±0.1	[3]

_g and P_n are presented as means±SE. If necessary, original units were converted to O₂ estimates assuming PQ = RQ = 1 [13], [44]. Abbreviations: P_g = gross primary production, P_n = net primary production, PQ = photosynthetic quotient, RQ = respiratory quotient. Values for P