Coral community structures on shallow reef flat, reef slope and underwater pinnacles in Mu Ko Chumphon, the Western Gulf of Thailand
Keywords:
Coral Bleaching, Shading, Mortality, Recovery, Gulf of ThailandAbstract
The coral reef ecosystem is the most diverse and productive marine ecosystems in the world. Coral reefs provide high species diversity which enhances a community survival rate when the condition of the environment change. Coral reefs are commonly found widely distributed in depths up to 30m. And various environmental factors drive different community compositions. This study examined coral community structures on shallow reef flat, reef slope and underwater pinnacles in the Western Gulf of Thailand. The field surveys were conducted at three coral reefs, including Ko Mattra, Ko Lawa, and Ko Kula and three underwater pinnacles i.e. Hin Thong Vo, Hin Jen Talay and Hin Ang in Mu Ko Chumphon by using a belt transect method. The results revealed that the percentages of live coral cover at most study sites were relatively high (over 50%). We found high species diversity of corals at the underwater pinnacles. The most dominant coral at all three study sites was Porites lutea. The dominant corals on underwater pinnacles were also Favites spp., Dipsastraea spp. and Diploastrea heliopora. This study highlights the importance of underwater pinnacles in the Gulf of Thailand for their ecosystem services, particularly providing fishery products and incomes from tourism.
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