Diving associated coral breakage in Hong Kong: Differential susceptibility to damage

Alfred Cheuk-sun Au; Liye Zhang; Shan-Shan Chung; Jian-Wen Qiu

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2014.01.024

Diving associated coral breakage in Hong Kong: Differential susceptibility to damage

Alfred Cheuk-sun Au, Liye Zhang, Shan-Shan Chung^*, Jian-Wen Qiu^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Biology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › peer-review

32 Citations (Scopus)

37 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

We conducted the first quantitative assessment of coral breakage along a gradient of diving activities in Hong Kong, the most densely populated city in southern China. A survey of six 1 × 25 m transects at seven sites revealed a total of 81 broken corals, among which 44% were branching, 44% plate-like and 12% massive. There were 3-19 broken colonies per site. At most study sites, the percentage of broken corals exceeded the recommended no-action threshold of 4%, suggesting that management intervention is justified. There was a significant positive correlation between the number of broken coral colonies and the number of divers visiting the site. The branching Acropora and the plate-like Montipora suffered from much higher frequency of damage than their relative abundance, raising the concern that the cumulative impact of such differential susceptibility to breakage may affect coral community composition.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	789-796
Number of pages	8
Journal	Marine Pollution Bulletin
Volume	85
Issue number	2
Early online date	24 Jan 2014
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2014.01.024
Publication status	Published - Aug 2014

Scopus Subject Areas

Oceanography
Aquatic Science
Pollution

User-Defined Keywords

Coral breakage
Coral damage
Coral management
Coral morphology
Impact of diving
Sustainability

Access to Document

10.1016/j.marpolbul.2014.01.024

Full TextAccepted author manuscript, 191 KB

Cite this

@article{fc48abdcf21844dfb95e368f0e37f995,

title = "Diving associated coral breakage in Hong Kong: Differential susceptibility to damage",

abstract = "We conducted the first quantitative assessment of coral breakage along a gradient of diving activities in Hong Kong, the most densely populated city in southern China. A survey of six 1 × 25 m transects at seven sites revealed a total of 81 broken corals, among which 44% were branching, 44% plate-like and 12% massive. There were 3-19 broken colonies per site. At most study sites, the percentage of broken corals exceeded the recommended no-action threshold of 4%, suggesting that management intervention is justified. There was a significant positive correlation between the number of broken coral colonies and the number of divers visiting the site. The branching Acropora and the plate-like Montipora suffered from much higher frequency of damage than their relative abundance, raising the concern that the cumulative impact of such differential susceptibility to breakage may affect coral community composition.",

keywords = "Coral breakage, Coral damage, Coral management, Coral morphology, Impact of diving, Sustainability",

author = "Au, {Alfred Cheuk-sun} and Liye Zhang and Shan-Shan Chung and Jian-Wen Qiu",

note = "Funding Information: This study was supported by Faculty Research Grant ( FRG1/11-12/018 ) of Hong Kong Baptist University and Environment and Conservation Fund (ECF Project 9/2009 & ECF Project 05/2012) and the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia (UB/12-13/01). The field surveys were conducted with permission from the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department. We thank H. C. Nimb (Vice President of PADI Hong Kong) for providing records of divers trained in Hong Kong for the last decade, and volunteer divers (names listed in alphabetical order) for their generous help with the underwater surveys: Ko-kwan Chan, Marcus Chan, Wilco Cheung, Eian Kee, Hoi-ling Ma, Davis Pan, Mimi So, Alan Tam, Joe Wan, Lee-Man Wong, and Sarah Yiu. ",

year = "2014",

month = aug,

doi = "10.1016/j.marpolbul.2014.01.024",

language = "English",

volume = "85",

pages = "789--796",

journal = "Marine Pollution Bulletin",

issn = "0025-326X",

publisher = "Elsevier Inc.",

number = "2",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Diving associated coral breakage in Hong Kong

T2 - Differential susceptibility to damage

AU - Au, Alfred Cheuk-sun

AU - Zhang, Liye

AU - Chung, Shan-Shan

AU - Qiu, Jian-Wen

N1 - Funding Information: This study was supported by Faculty Research Grant ( FRG1/11-12/018 ) of Hong Kong Baptist University and Environment and Conservation Fund (ECF Project 9/2009 & ECF Project 05/2012) and the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia (UB/12-13/01). The field surveys were conducted with permission from the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department. We thank H. C. Nimb (Vice President of PADI Hong Kong) for providing records of divers trained in Hong Kong for the last decade, and volunteer divers (names listed in alphabetical order) for their generous help with the underwater surveys: Ko-kwan Chan, Marcus Chan, Wilco Cheung, Eian Kee, Hoi-ling Ma, Davis Pan, Mimi So, Alan Tam, Joe Wan, Lee-Man Wong, and Sarah Yiu.

PY - 2014/8

Y1 - 2014/8

N2 - We conducted the first quantitative assessment of coral breakage along a gradient of diving activities in Hong Kong, the most densely populated city in southern China. A survey of six 1 × 25 m transects at seven sites revealed a total of 81 broken corals, among which 44% were branching, 44% plate-like and 12% massive. There were 3-19 broken colonies per site. At most study sites, the percentage of broken corals exceeded the recommended no-action threshold of 4%, suggesting that management intervention is justified. There was a significant positive correlation between the number of broken coral colonies and the number of divers visiting the site. The branching Acropora and the plate-like Montipora suffered from much higher frequency of damage than their relative abundance, raising the concern that the cumulative impact of such differential susceptibility to breakage may affect coral community composition.

AB - We conducted the first quantitative assessment of coral breakage along a gradient of diving activities in Hong Kong, the most densely populated city in southern China. A survey of six 1 × 25 m transects at seven sites revealed a total of 81 broken corals, among which 44% were branching, 44% plate-like and 12% massive. There were 3-19 broken colonies per site. At most study sites, the percentage of broken corals exceeded the recommended no-action threshold of 4%, suggesting that management intervention is justified. There was a significant positive correlation between the number of broken coral colonies and the number of divers visiting the site. The branching Acropora and the plate-like Montipora suffered from much higher frequency of damage than their relative abundance, raising the concern that the cumulative impact of such differential susceptibility to breakage may affect coral community composition.

KW - Coral breakage

KW - Coral damage

KW - Coral management

KW - Coral morphology

KW - Impact of diving

KW - Sustainability

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84906237410&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2014.01.024

DO - 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2014.01.024

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 24467858

AN - SCOPUS:84906237410

SN - 0025-326X

VL - 85

SP - 789

EP - 796

JO - Marine Pollution Bulletin

JF - Marine Pollution Bulletin

IS - 2

ER -

Diving associated coral breakage in Hong Kong: Differential susceptibility to damage

Abstract

Scopus Subject Areas

User-Defined Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this