SANDY BEACH MEIOFAUNA IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

Meiofauna are small organisms that thrive in many habitats. They are known to be resilient and exist in large numbers. As meiofauna are the most abundant animals in marine sediments, they are touted as sensitive pollution indicators that can inform us about the state of health of the beach. This study examines the meiofauna on four sandy beaches of Singapore from a geographical-environmental perspective. It is a pioneer study of sandy beach meiofauna. Previous studies done in Singapore dealt with benthos as a whole, never specifically meiofauna. Also, they examined the seabed or streambed rather than the beach. I aim to examine whether meiofaunal abundance and diversity can be correlated to the health of the sandy beach. In addition, I hope to demonstrate that meiofauna are easily collected and processed. Meiofaunal abundance was found to be greater on the low beach than on the high beach. Nematoda dominated the meiofaunal community in all samples, with Crustacea being the next most represented meiofaunal group. Meiofaunal diversity of Changi or Labrador beaches was the highest (depending on the diversity index used- Shannon-Weaver Diversity Index or Simpson's Dominance Index). It is noted that the use of diversity indices was problematic. In addition, while associations between sediment characteristics (grain size and degree of sorting) and meiofaunal abundance were found with some certainty, associations with other environmental factors proved more elusive. A positive correlation between salinity and copepod abundance was found. It was also demonstrated that meiofaunal collection and processing is easy.