Relationship between the benthic communities in southern islands of Singapore.

Coral reefs are remarkably diverse marine ecosystems that are of great economic importance to hundreds of millions of people in tropical coastal areas. Coral reefs are made up of benthic marine invertebrates and population sizes are regulated by larval settlement and recruitment rates. Understanding the factors that affect settlement and recruitment of corals is of great importance as these processes are critical in the persistence and recovery of reefs following disturbances. In this study, five reef sites were chosen along the southern islands of Singapore to (1) examine seasonal differences in settlement of benthic organisms during the northeast monsoon and during the two main coral spawning periods, (2) compare the relationship between algal cover and coral recruit abundance during the coral spawning periods, and (3) provide insights on the impact on the benthic assemblages within Singapore coastal waters. There is a high macro algae settlement rate of at Pulua Jong and high coral recruitment rate at Raffles lighthouse and shows seasonal patterns in the settlement and recruitment. Also, posthoc comparison also shows significant differences between the benthic percentage coverage of the 3 seasons at the 5 different sites, and how it affects the interaction of the composition of benthic communities.Bachelor of Science in Biological Science