Impacts of sedimentation on soft-bottom benthic communities in the southern islands of Singapore

Abstract

Benthic community data from eight stations around Pulau Semakau, an island south of Singapore, were collected during three surveys and analysed to determine changes in community structure under different sediment regimes resulting from construction activity at the eastern part of Pulau Semakau. Multidimensional Scaling (MDS) Configurations indicated distinct changes in the abundance, family number and diversity of benthic invertebrate fauna, which corresponded to sedimentation rate. SIMPER analysis suggested that polychaetes tolerate increased sedimentation better than crustaceans and molluscs. Sedimentation rate and other physico-chemical parameters were also investigated to determine the relationship between environmental factors and benthic community structure. Results from Principal Component Analysis (PCA) showed that sedimentation rate, sediment composition and ammonia concentration were the most important factors impacting the benthic community.