Collagen aids this turnover process, making sure that those
dead cells actually leave the skins surface, allowing for the production of fresh new cells that can replace that
old, damaged scar
tissue.
At a colony level, the proportion of Porites dominated by living
tissue increased from 34.9 % in 1998 to 73.9 % in 2013, indicating rapid recovery of recent
dead skeleton to living
tissue rather than transitioning to
old dead skeleton.