Monitoramento da cobertura coralínea do ambiente Recifal da Praia do Cabo Branco, João Pessoa - PB.

Abstract

Corals are invertebrate, celenterate and typica lly marine organisms, which exhibit colonial habits living in symbiosis with calcium carbonate-secreting algae. These organisms integrate a rich fauna and assume a certain degree of relevance insofar as they are fundamental for the maintenance of the balance in the marine ecosystem. The scientific community recommends monitoring the health of reef environments around the world, given that changes in environmental parameters have culminated in the development of coral diseases (such as bleaching), which can lead to death. Based on this premise and observing that the white cape beach has a live cliff on the beach which inserts a large amount of clay sediment in the sea water, it was necessary to monitor the conditions of the reefs of the place in question. The objective of this work is to monitor the coral cover of this environment by analyzing abiotic variables (sea surface temperature, oxygen, salinity, suspended sediments in sea water), and biotic variables, such as raising the presence of stony corals quantities of colonies, taxonomy of species, recruits and incidence of bleaching). The data collection comprised an annual cycle, which began in August 2016 and ended in July 2017. This work follows the recommendations of international research protocols, through widely used study techniques. The environmental variables were measured in the field and processed at the Marine Invertebrate Research Laboratory (LAPEIMAR) CES-UFCG, where the construction of databases was carried out. The results show that the abiotic variables were revealed within standards reported by other studies carried out in the same study area, and there were no significant discrepancies between the values obtained and others already registered. Regarding the biotic variables, 283 colonies of Siderastrea Stellata Verrill, 1868, endemic species of the Brazilian coast and normally abundant in the northeastern reefs were recorded. However, 33% of the registered colonies showed signs of bleaching. There were also the location of 28 recruits of corals, which indicates that this reef environment is somehow reproductively active.