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In a recent survey of the Nanpeng Islands National Nature Reserve, researchers at the Third Institute of Oceanography of the Ministry of Natural Resources found that at least 15 species of reef-building stony corals are distributed in the waters off the Tropic of Cancer. This discovery enriches the distribution area of coral reefs in China, expands the distribution range of reef-making corals off the coast of South China, fills the gap between Daya Bay and the Dongshan Sea area on the northern edge of China's coral distribution, and confirms that there are coral reef ecosystems distributed from the Tropic of Cancer to the south along the coast of China.
Coral reef ecosystems are one of the most biodiverse and productive typical ecosystems on Earth and are known as "rainforests in the ocean". China's south China coast has rich coral reef resources, mainly distributed in Xuwen Coral Reef National Nature Reserve, Guangdong Daya Bay - Dapeng Bay area, Guangxi Weizhou Island - Xieyang Island waters, Hong Kong waters, the northernmost edge to the Fujian Zhangzhou Dongshan surrounding the sea. However, there is no literature on the distribution of reef-building corals in the Guangdong Nanpeng Archipelago north of Daya Bay and south of Dongshan. This area is also the core area of the kuroshio warm current, located on the lower edge of Dongshan, only 33 kilometers away from the distribution area of Dongshan reef-building corals. Judging from the spread of coral larvae and the flow path of the Kuroshio warm current, it theoretically has certain conditions for the distribution of reef-building stony corals.
In December 2018, the Fujian Provincial Field Science Observation and Research Station in the coastal zone of Zhangzhou Island declared by the three ocean institutes was approved by the Fujian Provincial Science and Technology Department to be established. Comprehensive observation of reef-building coral communities in Zhangzhou and its surrounding waters is an important research content of this observatory. In August 2019, entrusted and strongly supported by the Guangdong Nanpeng Islands National Nature Reserve Management Bureau, Dr. Zheng Xinqing of the Third Institute of Oceanography of the Ministry of Natural Resources led by Dr. Zheng Xinqing of the Third Institute of Oceanography of the Ministry of Natural Resources and the staff of the reserve conducted a mapping survey of reef-building stony coral communities in the Nanpeng Sea, and the results of the survey were surprising.
For the first time, the survey found a patch community of 15 species of reef-building stony corals in the Nanpeng Archipelago, including a large area of stony coral communities dominated by staghorn corals and rose corals, and the number of species and distribution area were much higher than those in the Dongshan Sea area (5 species) where the distribution of reef-building corals along the coast of mainland China was located. Zheng Xinqing said that from the perspective of species composition, the composition of reef-building coral species found in the Nanpeng Archipelago is similar to that of reef-building coral species in Dongshan. The frost antler corals, orange-yellow coastal corals, S-shaped horn-hole corals, shield-shaped gyro corals and other species found in the Nanpeng Islands survey have been found in the history of Dongshan or in recent investigations, indicating that the reef-building corals in the two sea areas belong to the same biota and have the same source, that is, under the influence of warm currents, the larvae of reef-building corals gradually spread along the coast of South China and are distributed to the physiological limit area where reef-building corals can survive.
This survey expands the distribution range of reef-building corals off the coast of South China, indicating that there may be other reef-building corals in the daya bay-Dongshan sea area, and further in-depth investigation is needed to thoroughly find out the actual distribution range of reef-building corals along the coast of South China. At the same time, the stony coral community of the Nanpeng Islands is sheltered by the National Marine Nature Reserve, far from the interference of human activities, and the physical and chemical environmental conditions of the water body are superior, maintaining a relatively high biodiversity, and the conservation work is effective. Compared with other reef-building coral distribution areas located in nearshore areas or areas with frequent human activities along the coast of South China, it may be more suitable as a potential shelter and ideal research area for future reef-building corals under the background of global warming, and it is worth carrying out in-depth investigation and research work to provide support for the restoration, protection and management of coral reefs/stony coral communities in China.
i Nature New Media Team