International E-publication: Publish Projects, Dissertation, Theses, Books, Souvenir, Conference Proceeding with ISBN.  International E-Bulletin: Information/News regarding: Academics and Research

Occurrence of live Corals in Close Vicinity of Nuclear Power Plant site, Tarapur, Maharashtra, India

    , , , ,

Author Affiliations

  • 1ICAR- Central Institute of Fisheries Education, Panch Marg, Off Yari Road, Versova, Andheri West, Mumbai – 400 061, India
  • 2ICAR- Central Institute of Fisheries Education, Panch Marg, Off Yari Road, Versova, Andheri West, Mumbai – 400 061, India
  • 3ICAR- Central Institute of Fisheries Education, Panch Marg, Off Yari Road, Versova, Andheri West, Mumbai – 400 061, India
  • 4ICAR- Central Institute of Fisheries Education, Panch Marg, Off Yari Road, Versova, Andheri West, Mumbai – 400 061, India
  • 5Center for Environmental Nuclear Research, SRM University, Kattankulathur - 603 203, India

Res. J. Marine Sci., Volume 4, Issue (4), Pages 1-5, April,13 (2016)

Abstract

On the west coast of India live hermatypic and ahermatypic corals were encountered in close vicinity of nuclear power plant site at Tarapur, Maharashtra, which has been working successfully since 1964. The patchy growth of three hermatypic coral genera, viz., Goniastrea, Goniopora and Porites were observed at intertidal area of intake channel of TAPS 3 and 4 (500 m, SE), Varror (8.4 km, NE) and single ahermatypic coral species at Light house (1 km, NE). The corals in these areas were small in size and appeared to be not more than few years old. The water temperature, salinity pH and turbidity were in the range of 27.50C to 29.90C, 34.5 ppt to 36 ppt, 7.9 to 8.2 and 10 NTU to 21 NTU respectively. Sediment texture was mainly dominated by sand (81.9 % to 86.6 %) followed by silt (6.75 % to 10.5 %) and clay (5.6 % to 7.7%) and organic carbon was in the range of 0.78 (%) to 1.98 (%). The occurrence of corals indicates that they got adapted to the range of salinity which tends to vary seasonally and turbidity due to strong wave action. It was observed that the corals got affected due to fishing activities rather than discharge from TAPS and therefore efforts are needed to protect them.

References

  1. Burke L., Selig L. and Spalding M. (2002)., Reefs at Risk in Southeast Asia. Washington, DC., World Resources Institute, (http://www.wri.org/reefsatrisk/).
  2. Wilkinson C. (2004)., Status of Coral Reefs of the World, Townsville, Australia., Australian Institute of Marine Science. 1, 1-301.
  3. Hoegh-Guldberg O., Mumby P.J., Hooten A.J., Steneck R.S., Greenfield P., Gomez E., Harvell C.D., Sale P.F., Edwards A.J., Caldeira K., Knowlton N., Eakin C.M., Iglesias Prieto R., Muthiga N., Bradbury R.H., Dubi A. and Hatziolos1 M.E. (2007)., Coral reefs under rapid climate change and ocean acidification., Science, 318, 1737-1742.
  4. Knowlton N. and Jackson J.B.C. (2008)., Shifting baselines, local impacts, and global change on coral reefs., PLOS Biology, 6(2), e54. doi:10.1371/ journal.pbio.0060054.
  5. Warner M.E., Fitt W.K. and Schmidt G.W. (1996)., The effects of elevated temperature on the photosynthetic efficiency of zooxanthellae in hospite from four different species of reef coral: a novel approach., Plant Cell and Environment. 19(3), 291-299.
  6. Pandolfi J.M., Bradbury R.H., Sala E., Hughes T.P., Bjorndal K.A., Cooke R.G., McArdle D., McClenachan L., Newman M.J., Paredes G., Warner R.R. and Jackson J.B. (2003)., Global trajectories of the long-term decline of coral reef ecosystems., Science. 301(5635), 955-8.
  7. Gates R.D. (1990)., Seawater temperature and sublethal coral bleaching in Jamaica., Coral Reefs, 8, 193-198.
  8. Deepak Apate (2012)., Filed Guide to the Marine Life of India., Published by Deepak Apate, ISBN – 978-93-5067-144-3.
  9. Tan Kim H. (1996)., Determination of Soil texure; 6.2. Hydrometer Method., Soil Sampling Preparation and Analysis. Marcel Dekker, Inc., New York, 73-79.
  10. Walkley A. and Black I.A. (1934)., An examination of Degtjareff method for determining soil organic matter and a proposed modification of the chromic acid titration method., Soil Science. 27, 29-38.
  11. Nair R.R. and Qasim S.V. (1978)., Occurrence of a bank with living corals of the south west coast of India., Indian Journal of Marine Sciences, 7, 55-58.
  12. Qasim S.Z. and Wafar M.V.M. (1979)., Occurrence of living corals at several places along the West Coast of India., Mahasagar bulletin NIO Goa, 12, 53-58.
  13. Muley E.V., Venkataraman K., Alfred J.R.B. and Wafar M.V.M. (2000)., Status of coral reefs of India., Proceedings 9th International Coral Reef Symposium, Bali, Indinesia 23-27 Oct., 2.
  14. Pillai C.S.G. (1996)., Coral reefs of India: Their Conservation and Management., (Pillai, C. S. G. and Menon, N.G. eds) Marine Biodiversity, Conservation and Management, CMFRI, Cochin, India.
  15. Pillai C.S.G., Rajagopalan M.S. and Varghese M.A. (1979)., Preliminary report on a reconnaissance survey of the major coastal and marine ecosystems in Gulf of Kutch., Marine Fisheries Information Service Technical and Extension Series, 14, 16–20.
  16. Pillai C.S.G. and Patel M.I. (1988)., Scleractinian corals from the Gulf of Kutch., Journal of Marine Biological Association of India, 30, 54–74.
  17. Deshmukhe G., Ramamoorthy K. and Sen Gupta R. (2000)., On the coral reefs of the Gulf of Kachchh., Current. Science, 79, 160–162.
  18. Sen Gupta R., Patel M.I., Ramamoorthy K. and Deshmukhe G. (2003)., Coral Reefs of the Gulf of Kachchh, A Sub-tidal Videography., Gujarat Ecological Society, Vadodara, India, 82.
  19. Raghunathan C.R., Sen Gupta U., Wangikar and Lakhmapurkar J. (2004)., A record of live corals along the Saurashtra coast of Gujarat. Arabian Sea., Current Science, 87(8), 1131-1138.
  20. Yonge C.M. (1963)., The biology of coral reefs., Advance on Marine Biology, 1, 209-260.
  21. Martin Speight and Peter Henderson (2010)., Marine Ecology; Concepts and Applications., Blackwell Publishing, John Wiley and Sons Ltd. Chapter 9: Threats to marine ecosystem: the effect of man, 1-186. ISBN-978-1-4051-2699-1.