Effect of Tourism and Sedimentation on Coral Cover and Community Structure
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Abstract
Coral reefs are the most biologically diverse ecosystem on the planet. They are only found within a narrow range of shrinking parameters, putting coral reefs at risk worldwide. They are affected by anthropogenic and environmental impacts which change the distribution of coral genera. Understanding where the different corals are located and how each individual genus is affected by local and global pressures is vital for conservation. The coral video transect technique was used in May 2016 to compare the spatial distribution of coral genera at sites affected by different factors. The site with the fewest impacts recorded the highest coral cover, the site associated with sediment recorded the lowest, and the site with high tourist activity had the greatest algal cover. Acropora was found to be dominant at Bidong Archipelago and Redang Island, and Favia, Fungia and Porites had relatively high coral cover at each site.
Terumbu karang adalah ekosistem yang paling mempunyai kepelbagaian biologi di planet ini. Terumbu karang hanya dijumpai dalam lingkungan pengecilan parameter julat yang sempit, yang meletakkan terumbu karang berisiko di seluruh dunia. Terumbu karang dipengaruhi oleh kesan antropogenik dan alam sekitar yang mengubah taburan genera karang. Memahami di mana jenis karang yang berbeza terletak dan bagaimana setiap genus terjejas oleh tekanan tempatan dan global adalah penting untuk pemuliharaan. Teknik coral video transect mula digunakan pada bulan Mei 2016 untuk membandingkan taburan genera karang di tapak yang dipengaruhi oleh faktor-faktor yang berbeza. Tapak yang mempunyai impak paling sedikit mencatatkan pelitupan karang yang paling tinggi, tapak yang berkaitan dengan sedimen mencatatkan pelitupan yang paling rendah, dan tapak yang mempunyai aktiviti pelancongan yang tinggi mempunyai pelitupan alga yang paling besar. Acropora didapati dominan di Kepulauan Bidong dan Pulau Redang, manakala Favia, Fungia dan Porites mempunyai perlindungan karang yang agak tinggi di setiap tapak.
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