Resistance to temperature stress and Drupella corallivory may promote the dominance of Platygyra acuta in the marginal coral communities in Hong Kong.

The wide fluctuation in seawater temperature (from 14 °C in winter to 31 °C in summer) has been suggested as one of the factors affecting the diversity of marginal coral communities like those in Hong Kong. We proposed in a previous study that branching corals like Acropora valida were more susceptible to low temperature stress during, and weakened corals became more vulnerable to corallivorous attack by the snails Drupella spp. In the following spring.