Spatial diversity of coral reef communities in Sulu Sea marine corridors

Most protected coral reefs and coral communities in the Philippines are in small fishery reserves chosen for their coral cover and fish biomass, rather than their biodiversity conservation value. In an effort to improve criteria for designing these small reserves, spatial arrangement, particularly p...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Licuanan, Wilfredo Roehl Y., Luzon, Katrina S., Alino, Porfirion
Format: text
Published: Animo Repository 2008
Subjects:
Online Access:https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/faculty_research/7730
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Institution: De La Salle University
id oai:animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph:faculty_research-8448
record_format eprints
spelling oai:animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph:faculty_research-84482022-11-14T23:45:21Z Spatial diversity of coral reef communities in Sulu Sea marine corridors Licuanan, Wilfredo Roehl Y. Luzon, Katrina S. Alino, Porfirion Most protected coral reefs and coral communities in the Philippines are in small fishery reserves chosen for their coral cover and fish biomass, rather than their biodiversity conservation value. In an effort to improve criteria for designing these small reserves, spatial arrangement, particularly patch sizes of the reef benthos, was examined using semivariograms computed from DCA ordination scores of raw data. The data were generated from reef photos taken at one-meter intervals along I 00m transect lines, deployed along depth contours at 27 reef sites in three locations in the Sulu Sea. These locations are along the Cagayan Ridge (including Cagayancillo, and the Tubattaha National Marine Park), and reefs in Balabac Islands, southern Palawan that lie in a strait connecting the Sulu Sea with the South China Sea. Three basic community types were discerned - Type I communities are made up mostly by sand, rubble, and macroalgae as typically encountered in reef flats and backreef areas; Type 2 communities are a mix of different forms of various coral genera (except Acropora); and Type 3 communities are made up mostly of Acropora, either in tabulate or branching form. These community types are typically seen as mosaics, but their relative proportions vary with depth and exposure to monsoon winds, and appear to indicate disturbance history of a site. Type I and Type 3 communities are typically large patches, with the latter at shallow sites, and the former at deep or sheltered ones. Community mosaics dominated by both types have low diversity, but the latter also has the highest coral cover. Type 2 communities, on the other hand, have small mosaic patches and steep species area curves. These are typically found at intermediate depths. 2008-01-01T08:00:00Z text https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/faculty_research/7730 Faculty Research Work Animo Repository Coral communities—Philippines—Sulu Sea Marine Biology
institution De La Salle University
building De La Salle University Library
continent Asia
country Philippines
Philippines
content_provider De La Salle University Library
collection DLSU Institutional Repository
topic Coral communities—Philippines—Sulu Sea
Marine Biology
spellingShingle Coral communities—Philippines—Sulu Sea
Marine Biology
Licuanan, Wilfredo Roehl Y.
Luzon, Katrina S.
Alino, Porfirion
Spatial diversity of coral reef communities in Sulu Sea marine corridors
description Most protected coral reefs and coral communities in the Philippines are in small fishery reserves chosen for their coral cover and fish biomass, rather than their biodiversity conservation value. In an effort to improve criteria for designing these small reserves, spatial arrangement, particularly patch sizes of the reef benthos, was examined using semivariograms computed from DCA ordination scores of raw data. The data were generated from reef photos taken at one-meter intervals along I 00m transect lines, deployed along depth contours at 27 reef sites in three locations in the Sulu Sea. These locations are along the Cagayan Ridge (including Cagayancillo, and the Tubattaha National Marine Park), and reefs in Balabac Islands, southern Palawan that lie in a strait connecting the Sulu Sea with the South China Sea. Three basic community types were discerned - Type I communities are made up mostly by sand, rubble, and macroalgae as typically encountered in reef flats and backreef areas; Type 2 communities are a mix of different forms of various coral genera (except Acropora); and Type 3 communities are made up mostly of Acropora, either in tabulate or branching form. These community types are typically seen as mosaics, but their relative proportions vary with depth and exposure to monsoon winds, and appear to indicate disturbance history of a site. Type I and Type 3 communities are typically large patches, with the latter at shallow sites, and the former at deep or sheltered ones. Community mosaics dominated by both types have low diversity, but the latter also has the highest coral cover. Type 2 communities, on the other hand, have small mosaic patches and steep species area curves. These are typically found at intermediate depths.
format text
author Licuanan, Wilfredo Roehl Y.
Luzon, Katrina S.
Alino, Porfirion
author_facet Licuanan, Wilfredo Roehl Y.
Luzon, Katrina S.
Alino, Porfirion
author_sort Licuanan, Wilfredo Roehl Y.
title Spatial diversity of coral reef communities in Sulu Sea marine corridors
title_short Spatial diversity of coral reef communities in Sulu Sea marine corridors
title_full Spatial diversity of coral reef communities in Sulu Sea marine corridors
title_fullStr Spatial diversity of coral reef communities in Sulu Sea marine corridors
title_full_unstemmed Spatial diversity of coral reef communities in Sulu Sea marine corridors
title_sort spatial diversity of coral reef communities in sulu sea marine corridors
publisher Animo Repository
publishDate 2008
url https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/faculty_research/7730
_version_ 1767196753039196160