Estimation Technique of Spatial Coral Distribution in Amitori Bay, Iriomote Island, Japan

A new estimation technique for spatial coral distribution in Amitori Bay, Iriomote Island, Japan, reveals diverse coral cover patterns influenced by complex physical environments such as topography and wave height. The study demonstrates that numerical analysis of these environmental factors, despite containing errors compared to field measurements, provides valuable spatial interpolation data to understand coral phenomena. By modeling the relationship between coral cover and physical environment using a flexible piecewise linear function, researchers successfully reproduced local characteristics and quantified the contribution of various factors to coral distribution. This approach offers a novel method for assessing coral ecosystem dynamics in heterogeneous marine environments.

UKAI, A., MURAKAMI, T., MIZUTANI, A., NAKASE, K., SHIMOKAWA, S., & KOHNO, H. (2015). ESTIMATION TECHNIQUE OF SPATIAL CORAL DISTRIBUTION IN AMITORI BAY, IRIOMOTE ISLAND, JAPAN. Journal of Japan Society of Civil Engineers, Ser. B3 (Ocean Engineering), 71(2), I. https://doi.org/10.2208/jscejoe.71.i_963