Natural Resource Utilisation and Environmental Preservation: Issues and Challenges 20 Proceedings of Second Regional Symposium on Environment and Natural Resources, Vol:2 22-23 March 2005, Pan Pacific Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia SCLERACTINIAN CORAL DIVERSITY OF KG TEKEK, PULAU TIOMAN MARINE PARK AFFENDI YANG AMRI1, BADRUL HUZAIMI TAJUDDIN1, LEE YOKE LEE2, KEE ALFIAN ABD. ADZIS3 AND YUSRI YUSUF4 1Institute of Biological Sciences, Universiti Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur 2WWF-Malaysia, 49, Jalan SS23/15, Taman SEA, 47400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor 3Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Selangor 4ReefBase, The World Fish Center, Jalan Batu Maung, 11960 Bayan Lepas, Penang Correspondence email: [email protected] ABSTRACT The reef situated adjacent to Kg. Tekek, Pulau Tioman Marine Park was surveyed during the months of August to October 2004 to document the diversity of hard corals (scleractinian corals) found there. We did random swims using SCUBA along the reef while taking notes of each coral colony morphology and growth forms. Additional underwater close-up digital photography of corallites on each colony was also done. Coral species identification were referenced using Veron & Stafford-Smith (2000). Compared to a study by Harborne et al. (2000) of the waters around Pulau Tioman which found 183 species, this study found a total of 221 hard coral species from 14 families. The dominant families were Acroporidae (59 species), Faviidae (52 species) and Fungiidae (27 species). In addition seventeen species that are categorised by Veron & Stafford-Smith (2000) to be rare worldwide were found in the study area. We believe that the study area is very unique, important as a pool for coral species and needs to be managed with great care. INTRODUCTION It is has been well known that coral reefs are shallow water, calcareous structures which support a highly diverse association of marine plants and animals. Coral reefs are important firstly because of its biodiversity where coral reefs are usually compared to tropical rainforests due to similar high biodiversity and low nutrient surroundings. Amazingly coral reefs of the world are only ~0.25% of the world’s oceans but has the ability to maintain ~25% of all marine species. Reefs have been estimated to have 1-9 million species of organisms although this high estimate still needs to be confirmed. Malaysia is blessed with high biodiversity where it has been estimated that Malaysia has ~69 coral genera compared to Hawaii ~13 genera and Maldives ~52 genera (Bakus, 1994; Birkeland, 1997; Sorokin, 1993). Coral reefs are mainly distributed between the tropics of Capricorn (30oS) and Cancer (30oN). They are highly dependant on sea temperatures >18oC and needs adequate sunlight. Hermatypic corals also known as scleractinian (hard) corals are the most important component in any coral reef ecosystem. Hard corals are the main builders of reefs due to its symbiotic dinoflagellates (zooxanthellae). Zooxanthellae enhances the ability of hard corals to secrete calcium carbonate which makes up its skeleton and ultimately the coral reef framework (Bakus, 1994; Birkeland, 1997; Sorokin, 1993) . Malaysian reefs are mostly fringing reefs along the mainland or around islands. At present there are five marine park areas where coral reefs are protected and under the jurisdiction of the Marine Parks Section of the Ministry of the Natural Resources and the Environment (MNRE). The park areas encompasses 40 islands and the main islands are Pulau Payar, Pulau Redang, Pulau Tinggi, Pulau Tioman and Pulau Labuan. There are nine islands within Pulau Tioman Marine Parks which is in Pahang state. The largest of the islands is P. Tioman with the size of 13,420 hectares and is also the largest island off the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia. It was gazetted as a marine park in 1994 under the Fisheries Act, 1985. This is due to the fact that our coral reefs are considered to be a national heritage which needs to be protected and conserved. Burke, L. et al. (2002) had estimated that the coral reef area in South East Asia region is about 100,000 km2 which is equivalent to 34% of the world total and has 600-800 hard coral species. Malaysia has about 4,006km2 of the coral reefs in the region. They also estimated that 90% of coral reefs in Cambodia, Singapore, Taiwan, Phillipines, Vietnam, China and Spratly Islands face destruction and 85% of the coral reefs in Malaysia and Indonesia are threatened. The main threat in the region is overfishing where it causes 64% of the reefs to be threatened, 56% goes to the threat of blast and cyanide fishing use and finally 37% goes to the threat of sedimentation and pollution from coastal development and changes in land use. As Pulau Tioman is in a Marine Park then the main threat would be careless development of the island. This is also emphasized by Burke et al. (2002) where for Peninsular Malaysia it was identified that the main threat is by development whereas for East Malaysia it is by blast and cyanide fishing. Natural Resource Utilisation and Environmental Preservation: Issues and Challenges 21 Proceedings of Second Regional Symposium on Environment and Natural Resources, Vol:2 22-23 March 2005, Pan Pacific Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia At the study site of Kampung Tekek, Pulau Tioman the development of infrastructure has been very extensive if compared to other parts of the island. There are numerous buildings including jetties, a government clinic, schools, houses, resorts and even duty free shops. Significant development has been seen at Kg. Tekek recently that might have been due to P. Tioman being declared a duty free island in September 2002. There is also a small airport in Kg. Tekek and plans for a marina to be built at the study site and an additional 2km airport on the waters southwest of the island has met with serious disputes by the locals and other stakeholders. We had chosen the reef adjacent to Kg. Tekek to be studied as we are concerned that it would be jeopardized with all the present and future development nearby. In addition because little is known about the reef and its biological importance to the marine environment and the island as a whole, we might end up losing important species and a unique reef ecosystem which is part of our national heritage without us even knowing about its existence. Therefore the objectives of this study were: 1) To document the diversity of the hard corals adjacent to Kg. Tekek, P. Tioman 2) To find out if the hard corals found at the study site is unique 3) To ascertain the importance of the hard corals found From the resolution/joint communiqué of the meeting of minds from various countries in the “Islands & Reefs: Towards Conservation & Sustainable Management” held in Kuala Lumpur of August of 2003, it was recognized that a) reefs are one of the most complex ecosystems in the world and are very sensitive to external environmental stress b) reef and island ecosystems are interdependent and are important habitats for many species of plants and animals, including endangered species, which depends on islands and reefs for food, protection and use as breeding grounds c) reefs and islands are a major tourists’ destination for their natural beauty: the water clear, the beach pristine and the underwater life luxuriant d) reefs and mangroves are crucial to the fishing industry METHODOLOGY The reef situated adjacent to Kg. Tekek, Pulau Tioman Marine Park (Figure 1) was surveyed during the months of August to October 2004 to document the diversity of hard corals. We did random swims using SCUBA along the reef while taking notes of each coral colony morphology and growth forms. Additional underwater close-up digital photography of corallites on each colony was also done (Appendix 2). Coral species identification and global status were primarily referenced using Veron & Stafford-Smith (2000). Other references used were of published material for identifying Malaysian hard corals (Betterton, 1981; Pillai & Scheer, 1974; Searle, 1956; Wood & Tan; 1987). References were also made to literature on Pulau Tioman reefs which had either a species list or coral reef status (Aikanathan & Wong, 1994; Ching & Spring,1995; De Silva et al.,1980; Hendry, 2000; Ridzwan, 1994). Additional data on the reef profile, soft corals, sponges, fire corals and blue corals are also given. Kg Tekek study site Figure 1: Map showing the location of the study site of Kg Tekek, Pulau Tioman and Harborne et al. (2000) study sites (T7 Batu Malang, T8 Teluk Juara, T9 Pulau Gut, T10 Pulau Tokong Bahara, T11 Pulau Seri Buat, T12 Teluk Kadar and T13 Pulau Renggis). Map taken from Harborne et al. (2000). Natural Resource Utilisation and Environmental Preservation: Issues and Challenges 22 Proceedings of Second Regional Symposium on Environment and Natural Resources, Vol:2 22-23 March 2005, Pan Pacific Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia RESULTS & DISCUSSION The reefs adjacent to Kg Tekek extends from about 5m from the shoreline to about 60-70m out until the reef Number of scleractinian coral species within families 70 59 60 52 50 40 30 27 21 21 20 Number of species 12 10 7 6 44 2211 0 Faviidae Fungiidae Poritidae Mussidae Agaricidae Pectiniidae Oculinidae Acroporidae Merulinidae Euphyllidae Siderastrea Pocilloporidae Astrocoeniidae Dendrophyllidae Family Figure 2: Diagram showing the reef profile of Kg Tekek reef. slope where it drops down to about 10m before it levels out to a sandy area (Figure 2). From our observations coral diversity and density are higher on the southern side of the study site compared to the northern side. Branching corals such as Porites cylindrica is to be found in massive numbers and covering wide areas within the survey area. Massive corals such as Porites lobata, Porites rus and Porites lutea dominate the area and has immense colony growth in the area with heights and width up to 2-3m.