merged

Benthic Life Form and Hard Coral Communities at Pulau Redang,
Terengganu
Nur Arbaeen Binti Mohd Johari
Prof. Assoc. Dr. Zainudin Bin Bachok
Bachelor of Science (Marine Biology)
School of Marine and Environmental Sciences
Study on benthic life form and hard coral communities were done at Pulau Redang,
Terengganu, Malaysia. This study aims to determine the coral reef covers and coral
communities at 11 selected stations, chosen based on the rates of physical
disturbances from development activities. Coral Video Transect (CVT) technique was
used and images were analysed using Coral Point Count with Excel extension (CPCe)
to classify benthic life form and hard coral genus. Coral community structures
similarities were compared among study stations using Plymouth Routines In
Multivariate Ecological Research (PRIMER 6). The overall reef was in “fair” condition
with mean live coral cover ranging from 7.9% - 55.4%. A total of 32 genera mainly
dominated by Acropora, Porites and Pocillopora were discovered. Coral communities
were divided into four groups; Acropora branching, Porites massive, Pocillopora
braching and Heliopora columnar communities. The result shows the current status of
coral reefs communities at Pulau Redang.
1830 | UMT UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH DAY 2018