Author(s)

Yuri Ya. Latypov, Nikolai Selin

A. V. Zhirmunsky Institute of Marine Biology, Far East Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences (FEB RAS), Vladivostok, Russia.
Far Eastern State Natural Marine Biosphere Reserve, Vladivostok, Russia.

Coral reefs of Ku Lao Cham Islands in the Central Vietnam were studied over a quarter of a century. It was established that the reefs of these Islands were lost after the Sangshen typhoon and a heavy flood, which happened in 2006. As a result of these natural phenomena a significant part of coral populations was physically destroyed, and a powerful export of clay substances from the nearest Vietnamese coast and from the Bung River, flowing into the sea opposite the Islands, causing abundant sedimentation and death of almost all the remaining scleractinian corals. At present, where formerly there were coral reefs, now there is algal-alcyonarian stage of succession of reef communities. This is typical, as a rule, for restoration of reefs after a destructive typhoon effect.

Sangshen Typhoon; Reef Community; Change; Succession

Y. Latypov and N. Selin, "Changes of Reef Community near Ku Lao Cham Islands (South China Sea) after Sangshen Typhoon," American Journal of Climate Change, Vol. 1 No. 1, 2012, pp. 41-47. doi: 10.4236/ajcc.2012.11004.