Aquatic Science and Fish Resources (original) (raw)

Article history: Received Dec. 26, 2020 Received in revised form Jan. 26, 2021 Accepted Jan. 27, 2021 Available online Jan. 30, 2021 The current research aims to understanding the abundance and distribution of seagrass communities in Northern protected Islands in order to support decisionmakers in the management of the natural resource, in particular the bed of seagrass in northern protected areas. During winter 2017, eight Northern protected Islands were surveyed using diving and snorkeling (Tawila Island, Ashrafi Island, Ghanim Island, Small Gubal Island, North Um ElHimat Island, South Um Elhimat Island, North Geisum Island and South Geisum Island). Three species of seagrass, Thalassodendron ciliatum, Halophila stipulacea, and Halodule uninervis, were recorded. The result revealed that, in all Islands Thalassodendron ciliatum was the highest seagrass species abundance with mean coverage of 61%. The results showed that the mean coverage of the other two species were Halophila stipu...