Status of Coral Reefs Species at Patricia Shoals, Bintulu, Sarawak,...

Journal of Applied Sciences Research, 2(10): 816-820, 2006
© 2006, INSInet Publication
Status of Coral Reefs Species at Patricia Shoals, Bintulu, Sarawak, Malaysia
1
M.H. Idris, 1Z. Muta Harah and 2A. Arshad
1
Faculty of Agricultural Science and Food, Universiti Putra Malaysia,
Bintulu Campus 97008 Bintulu, Sarawak. Malaysia
2
Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
Abstract: A study on the diversity and distribution of coral reefs was conducted in the coral reefs areas at
Patricia shoal, Bintulu, Sarawak, Malaysia. Six areas were chosen as a study areas where it located at 3o 22.3’
N and 112o 50.1’ E. Line intercept transect were used to determine the status of the corals. Three classes of
coral namely Hexacoralia, Octocoralia and Hydrairia from12 families were recorded. A total of 32 species were
from the hard coral and 5 species were the soft coral. The family Acroporidea was dominant. From
Development Index (DI) of six stations, the ratings are four areas (stations 2, 4, 5 and 6) showed good
development and two areas (stations 1 and 3) showed fair development. For the Conditions Index (CI), five
areas (stations 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6) were in good conditions and one area (stations 4) was in fair conditions. The
Succession Index (SI) showed one area (station 3) was in a poor succession, three areas (stations 2, 5 and 6)
were in a very poor succession and two areas (stations 1 and 4) could not be determined.
Key word: Acroporidae, Coral reef, Distribution and Diversity
Garces [10], reported that coral reef has a big value to the
coastal ecosystem in ecology and economic aspect. The
distribution and species abundance of coral reef in
Sarawak has not fully investigated and recorded into the
database for the fisheries management compare to
Peninsular Malaysia. This study will more concentrate on
the healthy and status of coral reef especially in Bintulu,
Sarawak. As a place for shelter and food resources for a
million fishes, more study and work should be done in
Sarawak especially in Bintulu region because Bintulu is
a major producer of marine fishes for Sarawak.
INTRODUCTION
Coral reefs are complex ecosystem with high
biological diversity that occurs in shallow waters
throughout the tropics [9,19,20]. Malaysia had so many
islands which are rich with coral reef lives [13]. For
example Langkawi Island, Tioman Island, Pangkor Island,
Redang Island and Tenggol Island are fascinated islands
in Malaysia. Coral reef is live symbiosis with some algae
(zooxanthellae) from the genus Symbiodinium sp. which
provide food to the corals [4]. According to Barnes and
Hughes [2], multitudes of symbiotic, unicellular algae, the
zooxanthellae, pervade the coral tissue, imparting to it a
dull brown, green or blue coloration. Zooxahthellae in all
corals apparently belong to a single species of
dinoflagellate, Symbiodiniummicrodriaticum. Without the
zooxanthellae, corals become pallid and whereas corals
provide much of the topographical richness of the color.
Coral reefs can be divided into two major as a hard coral
and soft coral[15].
Barnes [1], reported that in marine environment, fishes
at the reefs area showed that have some relations between
a species and other organisms in that environment. The
reefs support prod uctive fisheries where provide an
essential source of protein. The yield of fisheries in the
world is 10 to 15% from the total catch are from coral reef
areas. According to Hinckley[12], there are three types of
coastal where it becomes an important value as a
recreation, productive and protected area. Mean while
MATERIAL S AND METHODS
Study areas: Patricia Shoals (Figure 1) was chosen as a
field of study because of the richness on corals.This shoal
was located at offshore of South China Sea and situated
at 3o 22.3’ N and 112o 50.1’ E latitude and longitude off
Bintulu, Sarawak, Malaysia. It was taken one hour travel
with 200hp speed boat from mainland to the shoal.
Line intercept transect technique: This major
monitoring method assesses live coral, preferably with an
estimation of coral types, dead coral cover, sand, algae
etc. The Line Intercept Transect (LIT) technique was
developed in terrestrial plant ecology and subsequently
was adopted by coral reef ecologists [16,18]. Using the LIT
technique is the most efficient method in avoiding
problems that arise from variable bottom topography on
Corresponding Author: M.H. Idris, Faculty of Agricultural Science and Food, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Bintulu Campus,
97008 Bintulu, Sarawak. Malaysia, E-mail: [email protected]
816
J. Appl. Sci. Res., 2(10): 816-820, 2006
Fig. 1: Map showed the study areas at Patricia Shoal, Bintulu, Sarawak.
the reef areas [21]. LIT also simplify problems of field
recording and are highly efficient in information per time
spend under water, which is a critical factor in deep water
study [16].
degree of stress on each particular reef. The condition
index is given as :
Data analysis: The community is characterized using
lifeform categories that provide a morphological
description of the reef community. The LIT used to
estimate the cover of an object or group of object within
a specified area by calculating the fraction of the length of
the line that in intercepted by the object[11]. The measure
of cover usually expressed as a percentage is considered
to be an unbiased estimate of the proportion of the total
area covered by that object[3].
According to English et al.,[8], summary data showing
percent cover and number of occurrences of each life
form may be calculate using the line intercept data. After
calculating the intercept (length) from the transition,
points recorded along transect line, the percent cover of a
life form category is calculating.
where,
LC = Percentage area cover of live coral category
(HC+SC)
DC = Percentage area cover of dead coral category
AL = Percentage area cover of algae category
OT = Percentage area cover of other fauna category
Percent cover =
CI = log10 [LC/(DC+AL+OT)]
Development Index (DI): The development index is used
to indicate the degree of coral reef assemblage
development. Development index would provide the
natural background of the reef. The development indexis
given as :
DI = log10 [(LC+DC+AL+OT)/AB]
where,
AB = Percentage area cover of abiotic category
totallengthcategory
×100
length of transect
Percentage covers of all benthic lifeform data were
calculated using LIFEFORM program[5]. The results were
summarized into six major category like HC (hard corals),
DC (dead corals), SC (soft corals), AB (abiotic), AL
(algae) and OT (other fauna). These major categories
were used to formulate three indices for an assessment of
reef status. These analyses will provide quantitative
information on the community structure of the sampling
sites. Successive samples can also be compared when the
sites have been sampled repeatedly over time.
Succession Index (SI): The succession index is used to
indicate the level of succession occurring on the reef. The
term of succession mean that the sequential of benthic
community occurring on dead corals. Succession index
will indicate the level and degree of reef recovery. The
index is given as :
SI =
log10 [OT/(DC+AL)]
The log-transformed index scale was used in this
study (Table 1) where, the range from negative
infinity to positive infinity. The index value usually
ranges from negative three to positive three. The
ratio is 1:999 and 999:1 respectively in six major
categories.
Three indices and their formula are described as
follows:
Condition Index (CI): The condition index is use to
indicate the degree of coral reef assemblage and also the
817
J. Appl. Sci. Res., 2(10): 816-820, 2006
100%
Percentage cover
Table 1: Semi-qualitative scale for an assessment ofindex in three corresponding
forms, percentage, ratio and index scale form.
Percentage
Ratio
Index scale
Quality
(100x)/(x+y)
x:y
log (x/y)
Very poor
< 20%
< 1:4
< - 0.602
Poor
20.01 to 40.00%
1:4 to 1:1.5
- 0.602 to - 0.176
40.01 to 60.00%
1:1.5 to 1.5:1
- 0.175 to 0.176
Fair
Good
60.01 to 80.00%
1.5:1 to 4:1
0.176 to 0.602
Very Good
> 80.01%
> 4:1
> 0.602
75%
50%
25%
0%
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
1
2
HC: Hard Corals
AB: Abiotic
Percentage Cover: The result of the percentage areas
cover of six major benthic categories at all study areas
summarizes on Table 2 and Figure 2. The result showed
the coral reefs around Patricia Shoal, Bintulu are partly
destroyed or death but showed sings of recovery. Three
classes of coral which Hexacoralia, Octocoralia and
Hydrairia with 12 families has recorded with three other
species unidentified. Thirty-two species of hard coral and
five species of soft corals are recorded. Hexacoralia
recorded the higher number of family with nine families
and Hydrairia recorded the lower with one family.
Octocoralia only recorded two families. Acroporidae
mostly dominates them.
Most of the species founded at studies areas are
belonging to hard coral (HC). An average of 36.7% of the
areas covered by hard coral species. Soft coral (SC)
covered 6.4%, 18.7% of dead coral (DC), 34.7% of
abiotic (AB), 2.8% of algae and 0.7% covered by other
fauna (OT).
Previously there are no recorded on distribution and
coral healthy at Patricia shoal in Bintulu, Sarawak. Other
researchers do their study only on distribution and coral
species at island in Malaysia where it was gazette as a
marine park. According to Idris [14], only 20 corals species
recorded where 17 species are hard corals and 3 species
are soft corals at surrounding water of Pulau Babi Besar,
Johor. Mean while De Silva et al. [ 6 ] recorded only 14
corals species at Pulau Babi Besar, Johor. The distribution
and diversity of corals are low compared to Pulau
Kapas [7]. Low diversity and distribution percentage of
corals species in this shoal may be cause by the human
activities.
3
4
Stations
SC: Soft Corals
AL: Algae
5
6
DC: Dead Corals
OT: Other Fauna
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
1
-0.1 -0.07
-0.2
0.5
0.45
0.4
0.35
0.3
0.25
0.2
01.5
0.1
0.05
0
Succession Index
Conditi on Index
Development Index
Fig. 2: Percentage cover of six major benthic lifeform on
coral reef areas at Patricia Shoal, Bintulu,
Sarawak.
Result from indices: Table 2 also summarizes the result
of three indices and they are also display in Figure 3. The
result of Development Index(DI) showed that most of the
study areas have fair to good coral reef assemblage
development (Figure 2a). Of six areas, four areas had
good development and two areas had fair development.
This result may show some trend that the development of
coral reef assemblage decreases when moving from
deeper water toward shallower water. The result of
Condition Index (CI) (Figure 2b) showed some trends on
the condition of coral reefs assemblage at each area. The
study areas varied from good to fair condition. Five areas
are recorded good condition and one area recorded fair
0
-0.2
-0.4
-0.6
-0.8
-1.0
-1.2
-1.4
-1.6
-1.8
-2.0
0.55
0.49
0.42
0.21
0.14
2
3
4
5
6
a
Station
0.47
0.42
0.36
0.26
0.18
0.14
b
1
1
0
2
3
4
Stations
5
2
3
5
4
0
6
6
-.98
-.98
1.76
-1.89
Stations
-1.29
c
Fig. 2a-c: The development Index (DI), Condition Index
(b) and succession Index (c) for every study
area at Patricia Shoal, Bintulu, Sarawak.
condition. The different condition between each area may
be caused from the different source and degree of
anthropogenic disturbance[17]. For the Succession Index
(SI) (Figure 3c), showed a very low degree of succession
by other benthic fauna. From six stations, one area
showed in poor succession, three areas showed in very
poor succession and other two showed not occur.
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J. Appl. Sci. Res., 2(10): 816-820, 2006
Table 2: Percentage areas cover of six major benthic lifeform and three indices on coral reef at Patricia Shoal, Bintulu, Sarawak.
Stations
HC
SC
DC
AB
AL
OT
DI
CI
SI
26.6
7.1
10.8
54.3
1.2
0
-0.07
0.47
N
1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2
40.1
14.4
22.6
22
0.5
0.4
0.55
0.36
-1.76
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------39.8
2.3
14
42
1.7
0.2
0.14
0.42
-1.89
3
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------4
37.8
6.3
25
24.4
6.5
0
0.49
0.14
N
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------42.7
4.3
18.5
27.5
4.6
2.4
0.42
0.26
-0.98
5
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------6
33.2
4
21.2
38.2
2.2
1.2
0.21
0.18
-1.29
= Not Occur
HC
= Hard Corals
DI = Development Index
N
SC = Soft Corals
DC
= Dead Corals
CI = Condition Index
AB = Abiotic
AL
= Algae
SI = Succession Index
OT = Other Fauna
on these areas was hard coral 36.7% compared to soft
coral 6.4 and 18.7% of the areas covered by dead coral.
Other is algae, abiotic and other fauna covered 38.2%.
Most of the coral become death because of the human
activities like fishing (trawling boat) and fish booming
activities at these areas. The result also showed two areas
in good condition actually showed in fair development
and one area in fair conditions but showed in good
development. Three areas are showed in good conditions
and good development. The areas with very poor or poor
condition usually are the areas with very good
development. The areas with good condition are usually
the areas with fair development
Table 3: Semi qualitative result for assessment of index quality base on
result from Table 1 and index scale (log x/y) at study areas.
Assessing Index
--------------------------------------------------------------Stations
DI
CI
SI
1
Fair
Good
N
2
Good
Good
Very Poor
3
Fair
Good
Poor
4
Good
Fair
N
5
Good
Good
Very Poor
6
Good
Good
Very Poor
CI = Condition Index
DI = Development Index
SI = Succession Index
N = Not Occur
The relationship between indices : The relationship
between each index pair is display in Table 3. The result
from Table 3 showed two areas in good condition but
showed fair development. Three areas showed in same
condition but different degree of development. Only one
area showed fair condition with a good development.
According to Manthachitra [17] the areas with very poor or
poor condition usually are the areas with very good
development. The areas with good condition are usually
the areas with fair development. The result also displays
the study areas that have same condition but different
degree of development.
As a place for shelter and food resources for a million
fishes, more study should be done in this area. There is
not much record on status and corals species inhabit in
this areas. More study case about a fauna on these shoals
should be done. Because of their diversity and richness,
coral reefs are the vast storehouse of genetic information
remains uninvestigated and untapped by man and
represent a resource of great potential and wealth. To
preserve the area as a national heritage and nursery for
fishes, more enforcement should be done by the
authority’s especially state government. Trawling fishing
activities at the areas also be not allowed for local people.
Trawling activities can be done at two nautical miles from
this area and it will be protected from destroyed by these
activities.
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