The Key Impact on Water Quality of Coral Reefs in Kenting National Park

Southern Taiwan’s Kenting National Park is a popular retreating place for many domestic and international tourists, with increasing tourist numbers potentially over-burdening the coastal ecosystems. To better understand human impacts, long-term ecological research program was initiated in 2001 to track water quality at 14 coral reef-abutting sites throughout park since then. Extracting data from this 20-year survey, we found that nutrient levels during summer rainy season, together drops salinity led by freshwater inputs (land- & rainfall-derived), main impact reef ecosystem of Kenting. Cluster analysis further confirmed influx mainly attributed local discharge outlets dense villages hotels upstream. Therefore, more efforts are needed input control number, treat waste strengthen land protection facilities.