Temporal variation in a coral reef community at Pattaya Bay, Gulf of Thailand

Abstract

The coral community was dominated by Porites lutea in terms of colony number and areal cover. Variations in the community structure parameters on opposite sides of the island indicated increasing dissimilarity with time. Little variation in live coral cover was noted, but colony number and species diversity declined on both sides. Abundance of edible fish species dropped while that of non-edible species increased over the 3-yr period, indicating selective removal of the former category through fishing. Impacts from both human and natural influences are implicated. -from Authors