Diversity and coverage of the benthic community at Enmedio reef, Lobos-Tuxpan Reef System, Mexico

Abstract

Benthic coverage is an important attribute for the efficient management of coral reefs. However, many marine ecosystems of Veracruz still lack this information and Enmedio reef is a clear example. For this reason, the benthic diversity and benthic coverage were estimated on the front reef, back reef and reef lagoon. One m2 quadrants were used and placed every 5 m on 3 transects of 50 m long. The species richness, evenness, Simpson index, Shannon’s diversity index and true diversity were estimated with the data collected. In addition, significant differences were determined using similarity and ordination analysis. The average biotic coverage estimated for the reef was 37.3%; mainly corals stand out with the most coverage, 19.8% (±18.8). The most important species in coverage were: Orbicella annularis, Erytropodium caribaeorum, Colpophyllia natans and Pseudodiploria clivosa. Reef environments are significantly different regarding biotic composition and coverage based on similarity and ordination analysis. For instance, a greater number of species and coverage, basically massive corals, were recorded in the back reef, while several benthic areas were found in the reef flatland, with a tendency to be more equitable and with a greater number of effective species. Finally, diversity, coverage and evenness decrease in the front reef due to the predominant presence of pavement. These differences registered in Enmedio reef regarding coverage by species and reef environment seem to be normal since they have also been reported for several other reefs from the Veracruz reef system.