Coral reef diversity of the Talang-talang Islands
Coral reefs are an important ecological resource which must be protected and conserved. Previous studies on the coral reefs of the Talang-Talang Islands (TTI) have found the percentage coral cover to be low with the reefs undernourished and underdeveloped. The objective of this study is to determi...
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| Format: | Final Year Project Report / IMRAD |
| Language: | English |
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Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, (UNIMAS)
2012
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| Online Access: | http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/6166/ http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/6166/7/Coral%20Reef%20Diversity%20of%20the%20Talang-Talang%20Islands%28OCR%29.pdf |
| Summary: | Coral reefs are an important ecological resource which must be protected and conserved. Previous studies on
the coral reefs of the Talang-Talang Islands (TTI) have found the percentage coral cover to be low with the
reefs undernourished and underdeveloped. The objective of this study is to determine the present hard coral
percentage cover of the Talang-Talang Islands. It also seeks to determine the composition of coral genus as
well as the Genus Diversity of the TTI. This study also aims to find the correlation between the coral
diversity of the TTI with various ecological factors such as fish and invertebrate diversity and the rate of
sedimentation. The coral cover survey was carried out using the Point Intercept Transect Method (PIT) while
the Coral Genus Diversity survey was concluded using a modified PIT. The results were significant, with
71% average live coral cover. The results were compared with previous studies and were found to be
significantly different. A total of 27 coral Genera were sampled from 15 Families. Shannon-Weiner Diversity
Index= 2.90; Simpson Diversity Index= 0.07, Berger-parker Dominance Index= 0.17 and Pielou’s Evenness
Index= 0.88. Statistically significant correlation between coral diversity and fish diversity were found with r=0.9622. Correlation between occurrences of massive growth forms was suspected but could not be correlated
due to small sample size. The coral reefs of the Talang-Talang islands are diverse but poorly understood.
More studies need to be conducted to better understand this important ecological resource. |
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