Sea Urchin @ Rawa Investigation (Project SURI):
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Sea urchins are keystone species that maintain the stability of marine ecosystems. By feeding on macroalgae on disturbed reefs, they open up space for coral spat to settle and grow and in this way, potentially provide an integral ecosystem function as ‘underwater gardeners’. Project SURI aims to examine the nature and extent of that role in the reefs of Rawa Island, Johor, a fairly isolated island in the South China Sea where sea urchin populations are abundant and the reefs, spectacular.
By knowing how sea urchins utilize their habitats, we may develop approaches to control their populations and in doing so, employ them as guardians of marine ecosystems. |
Project SURI is part of Mok Man Ying's MPhil research, where she will map out sea urchin distribution in the seas of Malaysia to establish baseline data for urchins in the region (Mok et al 2023). She will track the daily movement patterns of the long-spined urchin (Diadema setosum) on the reefs of Pulau Rawa, in particular to note whether they graze in a random or systematic fashion, and whether they have a favorite type of grazing and residence area. Man Ying will also run exclusion experiments to test for the effect of sea urchins on coral spat settlement.
We acknowledge the Rawa Island Resort for providing full logistical support, and the OrcaNation team for providing SCUBA diving facilities and dive assistance. OrcaNation also provided dive training for Man Ying. Mok Man Ying is supervised by Jillian Ooi Lean Sim, Affendi Yang Amri, and Norma Che Yusoff. |
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