THE EFFECT OF COASTAL AND CHANNEL MANGROVES SEDIMENT ON BIOTURBATION DISTRIBUTION

Abstract

Mangroves are a type of tropical tree that thrives and flourishes in harsh conditions where most vegetation struggles. Despite their resilience, mangrove ecosystems face significant threats from deforestation, pollution, and human activities. As an exceptionally efficient habitat for the capture and stabilization of sediment, the mangrove region is also supported by the bioturbation activity where organisms burrow and play an important role in the carbon and nutrient cycle while shaping soil geomorphology within the ecosystem. Many discoveries on the distribution of bioturbation have been carried out in coastal areas regarding grain size, soil density, and others. However, the difference in bioturbation activities on different physical attributes such as coastal, channels, and creeks areas has not yet been well addressed especially in Malaysia. Thus, this study proposes to elucidate the difference in bioturbation distribution between coastal and channel regions in the mangrove areas. The aim is to determine bioturbation distribution within coastal and channel regions by investigating the sediment characteristics and bioturbation frequencies along these two regions. The stratified random quadrat sampling method has been used for bioturbation frequencies, inhabitant species, and population richness. The sediment was characterized with a standard soil dry-sieving method and further analysed by laser diffraction method for fine particle distribution. In examining the effect of physical attribute influence on the bioturbation distribution, a two-way ANOVA assessment was carried out. This study has found that coastal and channel had different sediment distribution and the bioturbation frequencies were influenced by different inhabitants in both regions. Thus, the result of this study supports that coastal and channel regions have significant differences in the bioturbation process. The outcome of this study perhaps will increase awareness among the community members and their involvement in the enrichment and nurturing of ground areas, especially mangrove forests (SDG14).