“HEALTH MONITORING OF CORAL, IN LOS FRAILES BEACH, MACHALILLA NATIONAL PARK, MANABÍ, ECUADOR, FOR THE CONSERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY, 2009” Cornejo L. Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Sede regional Manabí, Campus Bahía de Caráquez oscar_andres2004@hotmail.com Keywords: Bleaching, scleractinian, patches of coral. Abstact. Los Frailes beach (LF) which is part of Machalilla National Park, a protected area of the province of Manabi - Ecuador, There are patches of scleractinian corals (Pocyllophora 1 damicornis and P. elegans) , which are sessile organisms that despite slow growth with their skeletons are shelters and provide food for countless organisms, so they are recognized as 2 priority species conservación , another of its ecological functions is to bind organic matter and dissolved CO2 in water. Because each polyp is formed by the symbiosis of a unicellular alga and animal Hermatypic are very sensitive to the effects of global warming, especially the increase of temperature and other 3 physicochemical factors , that produce death of the algae, this can be observed with color loss analyzed in this work, as well as the damage caused by waves, tourism, other factors such as brown algae (Jania sp.), sedimentation or diseases affecting corals. Methods. Using techniques based on NAGISA sampling protocol and using GIS for the construction a coral map where measured: total area of coral, the damaged area and growth of algae, data were taken using color intensity 4 CORAL HEALTH CHART. ANOVA was applied for data analysis. Results and Discussion. The average score achieved in color scale for corals in LF was 4.6. Comparing the results of two patches of coral at different distances from the coastline nearest P1=3.5, and P2=4.3 more distant, the difference was not significant (Figure1). Both the loss of color, the area of damage and the growth of brown algae were slightly higher in P1, the P2 color was more homogeneous (Figure2). There were no diseases or sedimentation in the area. Conclusions. There is a moderate bleaching of corals in LF and greater involvement of mechanical damage by wave action in P1, although moderate whitening is responding to rising global temperatures and the proximity of
Figure 1. Scores achieved by the transects at different depths in LF. 1
ENSO as a process Natural , so it is necessary to continue with the evaluation process. LF as well as other coral beaches are frequently visited by tourist boats, divers and fishermen who compromise the integrity of the reef, so it is necessary to have anchorage sites, and inform visitors about the importance of ecosystems reefs, as well as the precautions to be taken when carrying out their activity in the protected area.
Figure 2. Presence of brown algae (Jania sp.), in P2 as the distance offshore in T4 to 3m deep.
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