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Abstract: The abundance and health of scleractinian coral communities of Hormuz Island were investigated. For this purpose, we employed 20 m line intercept transects—12 in the intertidal zone and 15 subtidally to evaluate coral cover and community composition. The estimated dead coral coverage was 6.21%±0.81%, while live coral coverage was 16.93%±1.81%, considered as very poor. Totally, 12 genera were recorded, of which Porites with 11.9%±1.4% live cover was the dominant, while Goniopora had the least cover (0.07%±0.08%). Based on Mann-Whitney U-test, live coral coverage, dead coral coverage, algal coverage, cover of other benthic organisms and abiotic components showed significant univariate differences between zones (p<0.05). The Spearman correlation test between the abundance of biotic and abiotic components indicated significant negative correlation of live coral and sand with zoantharian and significant positive correlation of algae and other benthic organisms with rubble. The reef health indices used for the corals indicated that, in general, the environmental conditions were not suitable, which could be attributed to both natural and anthropogenic factors, the most important of which was zoantharian’ overgrowth on the scleractinian corals in this region.
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Key words:
- scleractinian corals /
- zoantharian /
- reef health indices /
- Hormuz Island /
- Persian Gulf
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Table 1. Location and depth of the transects at the study site
Transect Latitude Longitude Depth/m Zone Transect 1 27°03'00.14"N 56°30'03.27"E < 1 intertidal Transect 2 27°03'01.64"N 56°30'03.75"E < 1 intertidal Transect 3 27°03'04.69"N 56°30'05.43"E < 1 intertidal Transect 4 27°03'07.92"N 56°30'04.91"E < 1 intertidal Transect 5 27°03'12.81"N 56°30'04.57"E < 1 intertidal Transect 6 27°03'18.41"N 56°30'04.09"E < 1 intertidal Transect 7 27°03'21.22"N 56°30'06.29"E < 1 intertidal Transect 8 27°03'20.92"N 56°30'09.13"E < 1 intertidal Transect 9 27°03'25.83"N 56°30'08.20"E < 1 intertidal Transect 10 27°03'29.18"N 56°30'08.66"E < 1 intertidal Transect 11 27°03'32.80"N 56°30'08.88"E < 1 intertidal Transect 12 27°03'37.95"N 56°30'10.02"E < 1 intertidal Transect 13 27°02'48.10"N 56°30'10.31"E < 5 subtidal Transect 14 27°02'46.61"N 56°30'17.90"E < 5 subtidal Transect 15 27°03'01.06"N 56°30'20.29"E < 5 subtidal Transect 16 27°03'08.30"N 56°30'14.95"E < 5 subtidal Transect 17 27°03'05.95"N 56°30'24.82"E < 5 subtidal Transect 18 27°03'10.06"N 56°30'15.87"E < 5 subtidal Transect 19 27°03'08.12"N 56°30'24.95"E < 5 subtidal Transect 20 27°03'11.25"N 56°30'15.32"E < 5 subtidal Transect 21 27°03'08.14"N 56°30'23.92"E < 5 subtidal Transect 22 27°03'16.90"N 56°30'16.81"E < 5 subtidal Transect 23 27°03'22.30"N 56°30'16.95"E < 5 subtidal Transect 24 27°03'20.76"N 56°30'29.61"E < 5 subtidal Transect 25 27°03'23.96"N 56°30'32.36"E < 5 subtidal Transect 26 27°03'27.90"N 56°30'16.33"E < 5 subtidal Transect 27 27°03'35.69"N 56°30'26.78"E < 5 subtidal Table 2. Semi-qualitative scale for assessment of qualitative indices in two corresponding forms: percentage and index scale form (Idris et al. 2006)
Quality Percentage/% Index scale Very poor <20 <−0.602 Poor 20.00–40.00 −0.602 to −0.176 Fair 40.01–60.00 −0.176 to 0.176 Good 60.01–80.00 0.176–0.602 Very good >80.00 >0.602 Table 3. Spearman coefficient of correlations between biotic and abiotic components (LC: live coral; DC: dead coral; Rb: rubble; Sd: sand; Ro: rock; Al: algae; Zo: zoantharian; Ot: others)
Biotic and
abiotic
componentsLC DC Zo Al Ot Rb Sd Ro LC 1 DC −0.093 1 Zo −0.726** −0.054 1 Al 0.203 −0.194 −0.548** 1 Ot 0.230 −0.130 −0.186 0.251 1 Rb 0.242 −0.101 −0.253 0.428* 0.529** 1 Sd 0.093 −0.317 −0.492** 0.289 −0.047 −0.070 1 Ro −0.339 0.056 0.063 −0.011 0.052 0.094 0.157 1 Note: ** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level; * correlation is significant at the 0.05 level. Table 4. Destructive factors at Hormuz Island and their presence (+) or absence (−) at the study area
Destructive factor Intertidal zone Subtidal zone Sedimentation + + Trawling − + Military maneuvers − − Lost net and fishing gear + + Breakwaters − − Boats − + Diving and snorkeling + + Oil pollution + + Urban run-off + + Littering + + Extremely low tide + + Warm weather + + Red tide − − Coral diseases + + Coral reef fishes + + Sea urchins (Echinometra mathaei) + + Algal overgrowth − − Zoantharian overgrowth + + Other factors + + -
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