The dynamics of coral reef benthic and reef fish communities in Batam and Natuna Islands, Indonesia

The dynamics of coral reef benthic and reef fish communities in Batam and Natuna Islands, Indonesia

The dynamics of coral reef benthic and fish communities and their relationship within the Batam and Natuna Islands were investigated in 2004, 2007, 2010 and 2013. Hard coral covers declined at both locations (Batam by 18.69% and Natuna by 16.50%) in 2013, after which a mass bleaching event occurred...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biodiversity (Nepean) Vol. 19; no. 1-2; pp. 81 - 94
Main Authors: Hadi, Tri A., Tuti, Yosephine, Hadiyanto, Abrar, Muhammad, Suharti, Santi R., Suharsono, Gardiner, Naomi M.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Nepean Taylor & Francis 03-04-2018
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects:
Abundance
Aquatic ecosystems
Benthic communities
benthic community
Biodiversity
Bleaching
Composition
Coral reef
Coral reefs
dynamic
Fish
Fishing
Functional groups
Human influences
Indonesia
Islands
Marine biology
Migration
natural disturbance
Reef fish
reef fish community
Reefs
Natuna Islands
Indonesia
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The dynamics of coral reef benthic and fish communities and their relationship within the Batam and Natuna Islands were investigated in 2004, 2007, 2010 and 2013. Hard coral covers declined at both locations (Batam by 18.69% and Natuna by 16.50%) in 2013, after which a mass bleaching event occurred in 2010. This dramatically affected fish abundance, given that there was a decline of 39.18 individuals per transect in Batam but strangely there was an increase by 47.36 individuals per transect for Natuna. This increase might be related to the isolated location of Natuna, which prevented fishes from migration, especially juveniles. In the same year, the benthic compositions in both locations changed from Acroporidae dominated reefs to become less complex reefs. Following this, the fish composition became less diverse for Batam but in reverse for Natuna. The changes in benthic communities correlate significantly with fish functional group diversity for Batam and the abundance for Natuna. These differences might be related to geographical conditions and human impacts which are different between the locations, such as being surrounded by group of islands or open sea, and fishing activities. The communities are dynamic spatially and temporally as a result of natural conditions of the environment and human activities.
ISSN:1488-8386
2160-0651
DOI:10.1080/14888386.2018.1473797