High resilience of coral communities at Hin Ang Wang, Surat Thani Province and a proposed management strategy

Authors

  • Thamasak Yeemin Faculty of Science, Ramkhamhaeng University
  • msutthacheep@yahoo.com
  • Sittiporn Pengsakun
  • Sittiporn Pengsakun

Keywords:

coral community, resilience, management, recruitment, Gulf of Thailand

Abstract

The 1998 and 2010 mass coral bleaching events caused coral degradation to be severe and extensive in the Gulf of Thailand, particularly the Western Gulf of Thailand. This study assessed the resilience potential of coral communities at Hin Ang Wang, the Western Gulf of Thailand, by conducting field surveys on benthic components, community structure of scleractinian corals, diversity and density of juvenile corals, composition and abundance of macrobenthic invertebrates and reef fish. The live coral cover was 44.2%, while dead coral cover was 3.7%, indicating that the coral community is very good condition. The dominant coral species were Porites lutea, Pavona decussata and Montipora aequituberculata. The total density of juvenile corals was 1.6 juveniles/m2. The total density of 27 reef fish species was 937. 8±433.6 individuals/100 m2. The most dominant reef fishes were Neopomacentrus anabatoides, Chromis cineracens and Parioglossus philippinnus. There were several target species of macrobenthic invertebrates and reef fish for aquaculture and fishing. Some are attractive to tourists and can be target species for marine ecotourism. Our results show that the coral communities at Hin Ang Wang had high resilience to coral bleaching events and human impacts. It should be established as a marine protected area under the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources. The management plan should be also developed and implemented. The resilience-based management is proposed to support natural processes and maintain coral reef resilience

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Published

2022-08-31

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