Biophysical Survey of Mafia Island Marine Reserves

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edge is visible at around 10m deep. Above this, the reef gradually slopes up until it reaches the centre lagoonal seagrass habitat between 0.5 and 2m deep which is tide dependent. Beyond the reef edge, the dominant substrate is sand with occasional coral ‘bommies’. In this habitat, sponges and soft coral are most common but gradually become sparser further from the reef edge in deeper water. At a depth of 12m, coverage of benthic organisms is very low and consists almost solely of sponge and soft coral species. The main areas of the reef have an average scleractinian coral coverage of 7.55% (+/- SE 1.33) (Figure 24) consisting primarily of massive growth forms (4.1% +/- SE 0.87) (Figure 25). The waters around MBIMR were often found to be highly turbid, with visibility frequently below 2m and with strong currents. The type of reef found at MBIMR is consistent with that expected under these environmental conditions. Average percent cover (+/- SE) 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 All hard coral Dead Coral Bleached Coral Soft Coral Sponge Other Benthic Organisms Seagrass Macroalgae Turf algae on coral rock Turf algae on rubble Crustose Coralline Algae Nutrient Indicator Algae Rock Rubble Sand Silt Other Figure 24. Average percent cover by benthic type for all transects completed on coral reef habitats at MBIMR.
Average percent cover (+/- SE) 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Massive Branching Columnar Submassive Foliaceous Encrusting Solitary Tabular Figure 25: Average percent cover by scleractinian coral growth morphology across all transects completed on coral reef habitats at MBIMR b) Invertebrate Abundance The invertebrate community of the reefs at MBIMR is dominated by various species of starfish which is comparable with the data collected at Shungimbili (Figure 26). Small numbers of commercially important species such as edible sea cucumbers, giant clams, and cowrie shells were also recorded (Figure 26). The urchin population level is far lower than at NIMR, which is likely to be related to the very different reef communities observed at these sites. The nudibranch community shows particular diversity and abundance, and again along with the nudibranchs at Nyororo merits further research. Crown of thorn starfish (Acanthaster planci) were noted at several locations along the reef at MBIMR (Figure 26).
Page 1: Frontier Tanzania Environmental Res
Page 4 and 5: Suggested Technical Report citation
Page 6 and 7: Executive Summary Major Findings
Page 8 and 9: price it fetches may be contributin
Page 10 and 11: IV. RESULTS A. Nyororo Island Marin
Page 12 and 13: I. INTRODUCTION Project Aim To cond
Page 14 and 15: The reserves were established under
Page 16 and 17: III. METHODS A. Field Methods 1. Re
Page 18 and 19: Ground Proofing Methodology (Low Re
Page 20 and 21: Invertebrate Abundance Invertebrate
Page 22 and 23: Commercially Targeted Fish The meth
Page 24 and 25: Indian Ocean Bird wrasse Gomphosus
Page 26 and 27: Several areas of coral reef habitat
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Page 30 and 31: Average abundance (+/- SE) 30 25 20
Page 32 and 33: Average abundance (+/- SE) 3 2.5 2
Page 34 and 35: stop off or shelter. Boats from the
Page 36 and 37: 2. Coral Reef Habitat a) Benthic Co
Page 42 and 43: 68% 5% 18% 2% 0% 1% 0% 6% 0% 0% Tha
Page 44 and 45: on Mbarakuni. At times of good weat
Page 50 and 51: 97% 0% Figure 28. Average percentag
Page 52 and 53: c) Invertebrate abundance Invertebr
Page 54 and 55: lobster fishing. A foreign financed
Page 56 and 57: (Chaetodon trifascialus) are closel
Page 58 and 59: transects. Commercial fish species
Page 60 and 61: damage at present, but if further u
Page 62 and 63: VI. Appendices Appendix 1. Fish spe
Page 64 and 65: Whitespotted Epinephelus Grouper ca

Biophysical Survey of Mafia Island Marine Reserves

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