TITLE	Seagrasses of Tongsha Island, with descriptions of four new records to Taiwan
AUTHOR	Hsing-Juh LIN* Department of Life Sciences, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan 402, ROC Li-Yung HSIEH Department of Life Sciences, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan 402, ROC Pi-Jen LIU Department of Life Sciences, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan 402, ROC
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ABSTRACT	The composition, abundance, and distribution of seagrasses on Tongsha Island were studied from 21 to 29 April 2004. A total of seven seagrass species from six genera and two families were identified. Among them, four species were new to Taiwan, including Cymodocea rotundata Ehrenb. et Hempr. ex Aschers., Cymodocea serrulata (R. Br.) Aschers. and Magnus, Syringodium isoetifolium (Aschers.) Dandy, and Thalassodendron ciliatum (Forsk.) den Hartog. The species number of seagrasses was 14% of the total global number. The total coverage area of the seagrass beds was estimated to be 8.2 km2 distributed around Tongsha Island and the lagoon. Mean percentage cover and shoot density were high, ranging from 20 to 95% and < 1250 to > 2500 shoots m-2, respectively. The large area of the seagrass bed, the high shoot density and coverage of seagrasses, and the diverse species of Tongsha Island indicate that the seagrass resource on Tungsha Island is very abundant. These seagrass beds must be conserved to ensure the sustainable management of Tongsha Island.
KEYWORD	Coverage; Cymodocea rotundata; Cymodocea serrulata; Pratas Island; Shoot density; Syringodium isoetifolium; Thalassiodendron ciliatum;
ARTICLE INFO	Botanical Bulletin of Academia Sinica, Volume 46 Number 2 April 2005, page 163-168, 6 pages
PUBLISHER	Institute of Plant and Microbial Biology, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China