Status of coral reefs, butterflyfishes, and benthic macro-invertebrates in Araceli and Dumaran, Palawan, Philippines

Abstract

As a major fishing ground in Palawan, the reefs in the municipal waters of Araceli and Dumaran are continuously facing anthropogenic and climate-related threats. Hence, to provide information about the reef conditions, surveys were undertaken in three sites of each municipality as the basis for management. Data collection used the C30 method where a 75 m x 25 m sampling area was established at the upper reef slope (2-5 m deep) of each site. Substrates were photo-documented at predetermined random positions and the photos were processed using Coral Point Count with excel extension software (CPCe) to determine the percent substrate categories. Identification and counting of butterflyfishes and benthic macro-invertebrates were also undertaken. The hard-coral cover (HCC) ranged between 27.10 and 53.88% (fair to very good) for Araceli and 22.66 and 48.62% (fair to good) for Dumaran. The number of species and density of butterflyfishes largely varied across reefs. The benthic macro-invertebrates only included the blue Linckia starfish and giant clams. The current reef condition calls for urgent management actions.