STATUS OF HARD CORAL COMMUNITY COMPOSITION AND DIVERSITY AT TALANG-SATANG ISLANDS, SARAWAK

• Main Author: Ahmad Adli, Abdul Wahap
• Format: Final Year Project Report
• Language: English; English
• Published: Universiti Malaysia Sarawak(UNIMAS) 2015
• Subjects: Q Science (General)
• Online Access: http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/30385/1/STATUS%20OF%20HARD%20CORAL%20COMMUNITY%2024pgs.pdf; http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/30385/4/Ahmad%20Adli%20Bin%20Abdul%20Wahap%20ft.pdf; http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/30385/

One of the important resources can be found in Sarawak is the coral reefs around the coastal area. Previous research that conducted by the Reef Check Malaysia 2013 state that hard coral cover in Talang-Satang Islands was in good condition which higher than the average for reefs of the Sunda Shelf region. The objective of this study is to determine the present percentage cover of scleractinian species at Talang-Satang Islands. It is also to find the composition of coral genus diversity to compare between the selected sites. Besides, this study also aims compare the extent of coral bleaching at different sites in Talang-Satang Islands. The coral cover survey was carried out using PIT. The results were significant, with 55% average live coral cover. The results compared with the previous studies and were found no significant differences. A total of 16 genera were samples. Shannon-Weiner Diversity Index shows 1.90; Simpson Diversity Index shows 0.20; Pielou’s Evenness Index shows 0.69 and Berger-Parker Dominance Index shows 0.28. PSBS shows the highest coral bleahing with 16% followed by PTBE with 2% and PTBW with 1%. More research need to be done to protect this important resources.