Effect of tourism and sedimentation on coral cover and community structure

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.