Kondisi dan Keanekagaragaman Karang Batu di Perairan Sabang

Abstract

<strong>Condition and Diversity of Stony Corals in Sabang Waters.</strong> Globally, coral reefs are facing a variety of threats, both natural and human activities. Coral reefs in the waters of Sabang in 2004 were hit by a tsunami and in 2010 an increase in sea surface temperatures caused a bleaching. These resulted in mass mortality of stony corals. This study aims to determine the current condition and the diversity of stony corals in Sabang waters. The study was conducted in May 2015 in ten stations spread over four islands, namely Pulau Weh, Pulau Rondo, Pulau Breueh, and Pulau Nasi Besar. The coral cover is calculated using Underwater Photo Transect (UPT) method. The images were analyzed using CPCe 4.1 program with 30 random points in each frame. The number of species and the number of coral colonies are calculated based on the number of species and coral colonies contained in the photo frames along the transect. Based on the results of the analysis, live coral cover ranged 22.45–58.60% with an average live coral cover of 41.99%. Throughout the transect, 148 species of stony corals from 37 genera and 15 families were discovered. In general, stony corals in Sabang waters are in a good condition, not different from the condition of coral reefs in 2005. Open waters have a positive impact on coral growth, especially for the genus Acropora.