BIOLOGICAL IMPACTS OF ANCHORING ON SPECIES DIVERSITY, ABUNDANCE, AND DISEASE PREVALENCE OF CORAL REEFS IN KARIMUNJAWA, INDONESIA

Abstract

Karimunjawa National Park (KNP) has increasing tourist visits and shipping traffic as its main tourist destination. These conditions have the potential to the degradation of coral reef ecosystems. Hence, the objective of this study was to investigate the biological effects of anchorage on disease prevalence, % coral cover, abundance, and diversity of corals. The six islands with high, medium, and low anchoring intensities were selected. The survey method was carried out by scuba diving on each selected island at depths of 3 and 8m by establishing a 2x25m line and belt transects with three replications. The statistical results indicated that there were significant differences among anchoring levels in disease prevalence. Even the coral abundance and diversity tend to be lower on the island with high anchoring activity. However, there were no significant differences in species richness, diversity index, or relative abundance among anchoring levels. Moreover, the different levels of anchoring also made no difference in the percentage of coral cover (p 0.087 >0.05). This study revealed that anchoring damage might be indirectly responsible for the dispersal and elevated levels of disease. Further study is needed to identify anchoring activity and coral disease in wider areas to conserve the coral reefs of KNP.