Benthic faunal assemblages in seagrass meadows in Albany, Western Australia

In order to compare benthic fauna assemblages in four locations of seagrass beds in Albany (Princess
Royal Harbour, Oyster Harbour, Two People Bay and Frenchman Bay), a research had been conducted between 18 and 21 April 2017. There were two aims of this study. First, to investigate six sites within four locations with various degree of anthropogenic impact in order to understand the faunal richness and abundance in those locations. Second, to measure and record the environmental factors which are assumed to be important regulators of the observed patterns between the sites. The result showed that the highest faunal abundance (227 Faunal) was found at Frenchman Bay, a less anthropogenically impacted area, while the lowest abundance (26 Faunal) was at Oyster Harbour-Emu Point which was an anthropogenically affected site. However, in terms of faunal diversity, there was no significant difference among all sites. The environmental factor which had significant relationship with the difference in benthic faunal assemblages at each site was found to be coarse sand.