Coral Reefs at the Northernmost Tip of Borneo: An Assessment of Scleractinian Species Richness Patterns and Benthic Reef Assemblages

Abstract

The coral reefs at the northernmost tip of Sabah, Borneo will be established under a marine protected area: the Tun Mustapha Park (TMP) by the end of 2015. This area is a passage where the Sulu Sea meets the South China Sea and it is situated at the border of the area of maximum marine biodiversity, the Coral Triangle. The TMP includes fringing and patch reefs established on a relatively shallow sea floor. Surveys were carried out to examine features of the coral reefs in terms of scleractinian species richness, and benthic reef assemblages following the Reef Check substrate categories, with emphasis on hard coral cover. Variation in scleractinian diversity was based on the species composition of coral families Fungiidae (n = 39), Agariciidae (n = 30) and Euphylliidae (n = 15). The number of coral species was highest at reefs with a larger depth gradient i.e. at the periphery of the study area and in the deep South Banggi Channel. Average live hard coral cover across the sites was 49%. Only 7% of the examined reefs had > 75% hard coral cover, while the majority of the reef sites were rated fair (51%) and good (38%). Sites with low coral cover and high rubble fragments are evidence of blast fishing, although the observed damage appeared old. Depth was a dominant factor in influencing the coral species composition and benthic reef communities in the TMP. Besides filling in the information gaps regarding species richness and benthic cover for reef areas that were previously without any data, the results of this study together with information that is already available on the coral reefs of TMP will be used to make informed decisions on zoning plans for conservation priorities in the proposed park.

Borneo coral reefs subject to high sediment loads show evidence of resilience to various environmental stressors

“…Average live coral cover among the three reefs was 30%, ranging from 22% at EG to 39% at SW. This is lower than reefs to the north in Sabah, with reports of live coral cover from 23 to 75% (Pilcher & Cabanban, 2000; Chou & Tun, 2002; Lee, 2007; Praveena, Siraj & Aris, 2012; Waheed et al, 2016), but greater than the average coral cover for the wider Pacific region, estimated at 22% in 2003 (Bruno & Selig, 2007). Previous assessment of coral cover in the early 2000s on the Miri’s reefs range from 28% (Pilcher & Cabanban, 2000) to 22–58% (Elcee Instrumentation Sdn Bhd, 2002).…”

When forms meet genes: revision of the scleractinian genera Micromussa and Homophyllia (Lobophylliidae) with a description of two new species and one new genus

“…We analyze material from different geographic localities spanning the known range of intraspecific morphological variability and several types of sequence data: the mitochondrial DNA regions cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) as well as the non-coding intergenic spacer region between COI and large ribosomal RNA subunit, and the nuclear markers ribosomal internal transcribed spacers 1 and 2 (ITS region) and the histone H3 gene. Furthermore, we investigate gross-and fine-scale morphology of skeletons of each coral species, including material from each type locality, except for M. multipunctata, which was sampled from the northernmost tip of Borneo (Waheed et al, 2015).…”

Peer Review #2 of "Borneo coral reefs subject to high sediment loads show evidence of resilience to various environmental stressors (v0.2)"

“…Average live coral cover among the three reefs was 30%, ranging from 22% at EG to 39% at Siwa Reef. This is lower than reefs to the north in Sabah, with reports of live coral cover from 23 to 75% (Pilcher and Cabanban, 2000;Chou and Tun, 2002;Lee, 2007;Praveena et al, 2012;Waheed et al, 2016), but greater than the average coral cover for the wider Pacific region, estimated at 22% in 2003 (Bruno and Selig, 2007). Previous assessment of coral cover in the early 2000s on the Miri reefs range from 28% (Pilcher and Cabanban, 2000) to 22-58% (Elcee Instumentation, 2002).…”