Studies on the Recovery of Bleached Corals in Andaman: Fishes as Indicators of Reef Health

Krishnan, P and George, Grinson and Immanuel, Titus and Bitopan, Malakar and Anand, A (2013) Studies on the Recovery of Bleached Corals in Andaman: Fishes as Indicators of Reef Health. In: Ecology and Conservation of Tropical Marine Faunal Communities. Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, pp. 395-407.

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    Abstract

    The corals in Andaman and Nicobar Islands suffered extensive bleaching during April 2010 to the extent of 60–70 % due to elevated sea surface temperature (SST) and a significant portion of that is hitherto dead. This study evaluates the degree of recovery of the coral reefs and reef fishes, a year after the event. Line intercept transect (LIT) surveys were conducted in three sites, namely, North Bay, Tarmugli and Chidiyatapu for assessing coral cover together with visual census of reef fishes along the same transects. It was observed that all sites were quite badly affected during the bleaching period with more than 95 % of the corals being fully or partially bleached. Out of the bleached corals, only 54 % recovered at North Bay, whereas Tarmugli and Chidiyatapu exhibited 81 and 86 % recovery, respectively. The collapse of coral reef systems affected the abundance and diversity among fish species. Due to recovery and new recruitment of corals, live coral cover has increased, and consequently,, abundance of fishes seems to have increased. Understanding the associations of fishes and corals could possibly lead to selection of certain species of fishes as indicators of reef health. The results of the study lead to the hypothesis that fishes, especially those belong to the families, Chaetodontidae, Pomacentridae, Acanthuridae and Scaridae can be potential indicators of reef health.

    Item Type: Book Section
    Uncontrolled Keywords: Andaman; Coral bleaching; Indicator species; Recovery; Reef fishes
    Subjects: Marine Fisheries > Conservation
    Marine Ecosystems > Coral Reefs
    Divisions: CMFRI-Kochi > Marine Capture > Fishery Resources Assessment Division
    Subject Area > CMFRI > CMFRI-Kochi > Marine Capture > Fishery Resources Assessment Division
    CMFRI-Kochi > Marine Capture > Fishery Resources Assessment Division
    Subject Area > CMFRI-Kochi > Marine Capture > Fishery Resources Assessment Division
    Depositing User: Arun Surendran
    Date Deposited: 25 Apr 2014 09:06
    Last Modified: 09 Sep 2015 15:58
    URI: http://eprints.cmfri.org.in/id/eprint/10035

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