Analysis of Periphyton Presence Related to Physical Chemical Parameter and the Characteristic of Seagrass beds in Pari Island

Abstract

Seagrasses represent one of the important and highly productive ecosystems of the world, which provides critical habitat for many animals and plants including periphyton. The characteristics of seagrass beds are acutely responsive to density and distribution of assosiated periphyton due to physical chemical factors and community structure of the seagrass itself. The aims of this research were to investigate composition and density of periphyton taxa between mixed vegetation and monospesific seagrasses beds and to study the physics chemical parameters that influence the community structure of periphyton on seagrass leaves and the density of seagrass community. The results showed that the highest density of seagrasses and periphyton occured in station II with mixed vegetation and consists of four species of seagrasses. PCA analysis indicated that the most influenced of physical chemical factors were current, nitrate and phosphate, while the presence and density of periphyton weree affected by seagrass densities.