Guest guest Posted January 15, 2003 Report Share Posted January 15, 2003 ***************************Advertisement*************************** TechCentral http://star-techcentral.com ***************************************************************** This message was forwarded to you by yitzeling. Comment from sender: This article is from thestar.com.my URL: http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2003/1/14/features/lipangkor3 & se\ c=features ________________________ Tuesday, January 14, 2003 Going by indicators A RECENT survey of Pulau Pangkor & #8217;s coral reefs was carried out using the Reef Check method. This is an easy way to assess coral reefs as divers count species which have been identified as indicators of a healthy reef. The targeted species are those usually found in polluted waters and those harvested for food and the aquarium trade. The Reef Check method is used to survey over 1,000 reefs in 50 countries. For the project, six divers surveyed 400sq. m of reef at three sites: off the islands of Giam, Mentangor and Dua. Each pair of divers focused on one group of indicators: corals, fishes and invertebrates. Corals There is good cover of hard corals, the backbone of reefs, at all three sites surveyed & #8211; Pulau Giam (45%), Pulau Mentangor (45%) and Pulau Dua (48.1%). The figures are above the global mean hard coral cover of 32% stated in a recent report by the Reef Check Foundation. The cover of soft corals hover around 1.3%, while sea sponges (multi-celled creatures which are harvested for bath sponges) range from 3.8% to 10%. Recently killed corals were seen only at Pulau Giam which is popular among tourists. The high percentage cover of silt for Pulau Mentangor (19.4%) compared to Pulau Giam (3.1%) and Pulau Dua (0%) can have a bad effect as it can smother the reef. A detailed study on the flow of currents in Pangkor waters is crucial to understand the differences in silt cover. Coral fish Two surveys of fishlife were done; one on nine indicator species and one on coral reef fish species. The nine indicator species are the butterfly fish, grouper, sweetlips, barramundi cod, parrot fish, moray eel, snapper, humphead wrasse and bumphead parrot fish. Most of the indicator fish species were either very few or non-existent. At Pulau Giam, only two indicator species & #8211; the butterfly fish and snapper & #8211; were seen. Pulau Mentangor has a healthy fishlife, with five out of the nine indicator species. Snappers and sweetlips were abundant. At Pulau Dua, three species were noted and this was the only site with a good density of groupers. Divers counted 72 species of coral reef fish comprisingly mainly damselfishes, wrasses and gobies. The figure is very low compared to the diversity seen in the Pulau Payar (213 species), Pulau Perhentian (174 species) and Pulau Redang (173 species) marine parks. The low count may be due to high sea sedimentation, low coral cover and short sampling period. Only four species of butterfly fish (generally used as a bioindicator of coral health) were seen in Pangkor, compared to the 17 found in Pulau Payar. Invertebrates Divers looked for eight marine invertebrates as indicators: banded coral shrimp, sea urchin, pencil urchin, edible sea cucumber, crown of thorns, giant clams, triton shell and lobsters. At Pulau Giam and Pulau Mentangor, only sea urchins were present and in high densities. No other indicator species were present, signalling a severe problem with the ecosystem. It was only at Pulau Dua that other indicator species & #8211; three sea cucumbers and eight giant clams & #8211; were observed. But the area also had the highest density of sea urchins, a whopping 222 individuals over 100sq. m. The Universiti Malaya research project concluded that the coral reef system on the western side of Pulau Pangkor is still relatively good despite the high sedimentation, overfishing and anthropogenic (man-made) stresses. Pulau Giam reefs are at a precarious level due to the high impact from tourism and other anthropogenic sources. On the other hand, Pulau Mentangor and Pulau Dua reefs are less threatened as they are less accessible to visitors. Further study on the diversity and community structure of the coral reefs, sources of water pollution, and the impact of sea urchins on the reef are planned for the next expedition. & #8211; By Tan Cheng Li<p> ________________________ Your one-stop information portal: The Star Online http://thestar.com.my http://biz.thestar.com.my http://classifieds.thestar.com.my http://cards.thestar.com.my http://search.thestar.com.my http://star-motoring.com http://star-space.com http://star-jobs.com http://star-ecentral.com http://star-techcentral.com 1995-2002 Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Star Publications is prohibited. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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