Diversity of Seagrasses in Shwe Thaung Yan Coastal Area, Ayeyarwady Region, Myanmar
Keywords:
Diversity, dominance, seagrass, Ayeyarwady Region, MyanmarAbstract
Seagrasses take part in many important roles of marine biodiversity such as nursery habitat, protective habitat, direct food source and nutrient cycling. The diversity of seagrasses was determined in the seagrass meadows along the Shwe Thaung Yan coastal area, Ayeyarwady Region, Myanmar. Four stations (M1, M2, W1 and P1) were established: M1 and M2 stations were located along Magyi coast at Latitude 17˚03'42.5"N, Longitude 094˚27'05.7"E and Latitude 17° 04' 14.6"N, Longitude 094° 57' 1.3"E respectively. W1 station was positioned at Latitude 17˚08'32.2"N, Longitude 094˚27'41.9"E in Wetthay bay. P1 station was set at Latitude 17˚ 09' 56.9" N, Longitude 094˚29' 42.2"E in Phoe Htaung bay. A total of nine seagrasses from the families of Cymodoceaceae and Hydrocharitaceae were recorded in the stations. One-way ANOVA analysis showed a significant difference (p<0.05) in Shannon diversity values among the stations. The highest diversity was observed at W1 station (1.63524 (H')). The results showed that there were no highly dominant seagrasses in the stations, which were made up of multi-specific seagrass meadows. The evenness index revealed that there were differences among the stations with the seagrass found in W1 station having the highest evenness (J’=0.84035). Thalassia hemprichii was observed as a dominant species in Magyi (M1 station) and Wetthay Bay.
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