Hong Kong's subtropical scleractinian coral communities: Baseline, environmental drivers and management implications

Yip Hung Yeung; James Y. Xie; Chun Kit Kwok; Keith Kei; Put Ang; Leo Lai Chan; Walter Dellisanti; Chi Chiu Cheang; Wing Kuen Chow; Jian Wen Qiu

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112289

Hong Kong's subtropical scleractinian coral communities: Baseline, environmental drivers and management implications

Yip Hung Yeung, James Y. Xie, Chun Kit Kwok, Keith Kei, Put Ang, Leo Lai Chan, Walter Dellisanti, Chi Chiu Cheang, Wing Kuen Chow, Jian Wen Qiu^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Biology

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

22 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We surveyed 41 sites to provide an updated baseline of Hong Kong coral communities. Five community types were identified, among them the most common one inhabited oceanic waters and dominated by both massive and upward-plating corals. The 41 sites had 2.1–⁠79% coral cover; among them 21 in the eastern waters had >40% coral cover. Corals in several sites showed signs of external bioerosion or bleaching-induced damage. Sites in the southern waters had low coral cover. Both coral cover and generic richness correlated negatively with several water quality parameters including total inorganic nitrogen concentration and turbidity, indicating the development of Hong Kong's coral communities is constrained by water quality parameters. Management actions are proposed to reduce bioerosion, and to monitor sites affected by bleaching.

Original language	English
Article number	112289
Journal	Marine Pollution Bulletin
Volume	167
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112289
Publication status	Published - Jun 2021

Scopus Subject Areas

Oceanography
Aquatic Science
Pollution

User-Defined Keywords

Coral community
Coral distribution
Marginal reefs
Salinity
South China Sea
Urban reefs

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112289

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title = "Hong Kong's subtropical scleractinian coral communities: Baseline, environmental drivers and management implications",

abstract = "We surveyed 41 sites to provide an updated baseline of Hong Kong coral communities. Five community types were identified, among them the most common one inhabited oceanic waters and dominated by both massive and upward-plating corals. The 41 sites had 2.1–⁠79% coral cover; among them 21 in the eastern waters had >40% coral cover. Corals in several sites showed signs of external bioerosion or bleaching-induced damage. Sites in the southern waters had low coral cover. Both coral cover and generic richness correlated negatively with several water quality parameters including total inorganic nitrogen concentration and turbidity, indicating the development of Hong Kong's coral communities is constrained by water quality parameters. Management actions are proposed to reduce bioerosion, and to monitor sites affected by bleaching.",

keywords = "Coral community, Coral distribution, Marginal reefs, Salinity, South China Sea, Urban reefs",

author = "Yeung, {Yip Hung} and Xie, {James Y.} and Kwok, {Chun Kit} and Keith Kei and Put Ang and Chan, {Leo Lai} and Walter Dellisanti and Cheang, {Chi Chiu} and Chow, {Wing Kuen} and Qiu, {Jian Wen}",

note = "Funding Information: We thank the Director of Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation for permission to publish this paper. This field surveys of this study were supported by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and Hong Kong Baptist University. The writing of this paper was supported by the Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou) (grant numbers GML2019ZD0404 , L2019005 ). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021",

year = "2021",

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doi = "10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112289",

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journal = "Marine Pollution Bulletin",

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AU - Yeung, Yip Hung

AU - Xie, James Y.

AU - Kwok, Chun Kit

AU - Kei, Keith

AU - Ang, Put

AU - Chan, Leo Lai

AU - Dellisanti, Walter

AU - Cheang, Chi Chiu

AU - Chow, Wing Kuen

AU - Qiu, Jian Wen

N1 - Funding Information: We thank the Director of Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation for permission to publish this paper. This field surveys of this study were supported by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and Hong Kong Baptist University. The writing of this paper was supported by the Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou) (grant numbers GML2019ZD0404 , L2019005 ). Publisher Copyright: © 2021

PY - 2021/6

Y1 - 2021/6

N2 - We surveyed 41 sites to provide an updated baseline of Hong Kong coral communities. Five community types were identified, among them the most common one inhabited oceanic waters and dominated by both massive and upward-plating corals. The 41 sites had 2.1–⁠79% coral cover; among them 21 in the eastern waters had >40% coral cover. Corals in several sites showed signs of external bioerosion or bleaching-induced damage. Sites in the southern waters had low coral cover. Both coral cover and generic richness correlated negatively with several water quality parameters including total inorganic nitrogen concentration and turbidity, indicating the development of Hong Kong's coral communities is constrained by water quality parameters. Management actions are proposed to reduce bioerosion, and to monitor sites affected by bleaching.

AB - We surveyed 41 sites to provide an updated baseline of Hong Kong coral communities. Five community types were identified, among them the most common one inhabited oceanic waters and dominated by both massive and upward-plating corals. The 41 sites had 2.1–⁠79% coral cover; among them 21 in the eastern waters had >40% coral cover. Corals in several sites showed signs of external bioerosion or bleaching-induced damage. Sites in the southern waters had low coral cover. Both coral cover and generic richness correlated negatively with several water quality parameters including total inorganic nitrogen concentration and turbidity, indicating the development of Hong Kong's coral communities is constrained by water quality parameters. Management actions are proposed to reduce bioerosion, and to monitor sites affected by bleaching.

KW - Coral community

KW - Coral distribution

KW - Marginal reefs

KW - Salinity

KW - South China Sea

KW - Urban reefs

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JO - Marine Pollution Bulletin

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Hong Kong's subtropical scleractinian coral communities: Baseline, environmental drivers and management implications

Abstract

Scopus Subject Areas

User-Defined Keywords

UN SDGs

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