FORAMINIFERAL DISTRIBUTION AND ASSOCIATION PATTERNS IN THE MANGROVE SEDIMENTS OF KAPAR AND MATANG, WEST PENINSULAR MALAYSIA
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Date
2014
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Journal of Sustainability Science and Management
Abstract
Twenty-eight foraminiferal species (15 families and 24 genera) were identifed from the
mangrove surface sediment samples at Kapar and Matang on the West coast of Peninsular Malaysia.
The calcareous forms, particularly Ammonia beccarii and Buccella frigida, were found to be the
characteristic of Kapar sediments, whereas agglutinated species like Arenoparrella mexicana and
Haplophragmoides wilberti dominated the Matang environment. Based on faunal abundance (roottransformed data), three species’ groupings were distinguished from the Kapar and Matang samples.
Group-1 (with two sub-groups) dominated by Ammotium fragile, A. salsum, Miliammina fusca and
Reophax moniliformis was found to be representative of Kapar, whereas Group-2 dominated by
A. mexicana and H. wilberti was found to be representative of Matang. Group-3 was eventually
separated from the Kapar (i.e. Group-1) due to the presence of A. beccarii and B. frigida which
prefer nearshore/seaward areas with high salinity. Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA)
indicated that (relatively) high salinity (30‰), pH (8), and sandy texture (70%) with low total
organic carbon (TOC) (10%), characteristic of Kapar sediments, supported the distribution of A.
fragile, A. salsum, M. fusca, R. moniliformis, A. beccarii and B. frigida, while a high composition of
clay (31%) and TOC (30%) supported A. mexicana and H. wilberti (Matang) species. Overall, the
distribution of foraminiferal species was locally governed by two different environmental settings
prevailing at Kapar and Matang.
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Keywords
Tropical estuary, benthic foraminifera, mangrove sediment, Kapar and Matang, Peninsular Malaysia