Coral Health Thrives in Unprotected Reef Ecosystems in Southeast Nosy Be, Madagascar

Abstract

Madagascar is among the top 15 in the world for largest coral reef area, and it shelters the greatest diversity of corals and macroinvertebrates in the central and western Indian Ocean. Because of their importance to marine ecosystems, research and protection of these threatened areas is imperative. The objective of this study was to assess the nature of hard coral reef ecology in the southeast region of Nosy Be and to better understand the extent of coral bleaching and disease as it compares to past conditions. The method I used to assess live hard coral cover and coral composition was benthic survey methodology. Across 5 different sites around southeast Nosy Be, the presence of health conditions such as bleaching, diseases, algal assembly, and soft coral colonization was collected, and coral cover and taxonomic composition was collected and calculated. Results show that coral cover and biodiversity have increased in certain sites and that counts of health conditions at every site were low compared to each site’s coral cover and to past results found in 2015. These findings suggest that the overall health of corals around Nosy Be has improved and that the unprotected reefs around Lokobe National Park are likely comparable in coral cover than those protected sites. Accounts say that local communities have stopped disturbing their nearby reefs and have begun supporting and enacting regeneration projects at certain reefs on the island, ending anthropogenic disturbance as a health detriment and aiding the reefs in recovery and survival.