Algal turfs are an abundant and highly productive component of coral reef ecosystems. However, our understanding of the drivers that shape algal turf productivity across studies and among reefs is limited. Based on published studies we considered how different factors may shape turf productivity and turnover rates. Of the factors considered, depth was the primary driver of turf productivity rates, while turnover was predominantly related to turf biomass. We also highlight shortcomings in the available data collected on turf productivity to-date; most data were collected prior to global coral bleaching events, within a limited geographic range, and were largely from experimental substrata. Despite the fact turfs are a widespread benthic covering on most coral reefs, and one of the major sources of benthic productivity, our understanding of their productivity is constrained by both a paucity of data and methodological limitations. We offer a potential way forward to address these challenges.

藻类草皮是珊瑚礁生态系统中丰富而高产的组成部分。但是，我们对影响整个研究和珊瑚礁中藻类草生产力的驱动因素的理解是有限的。根据已发表的研究，我们考虑了不同因素如何影响草皮生产力和周转率。在考虑的因素中，深度是草皮生产率的主要驱动力，而周转率主要与草皮生物量相关。我们还强调了迄今为止有关草皮生产力的可用数据中的缺点；大多数数据是在全球珊瑚白化事件发生之前在有限的地理范围内收集的，并且大部分来自实验地层。尽管草皮是大多数珊瑚礁上广泛分布的底栖生物，并且是底栖生物生产力的主要来源之一，缺乏数据和方法学限制都限制了我们对其生产率的理解。我们提供了解决这些挑战的潜在方法。