The distribution of seagrass meadows and dugong feeding trails in the dry season around Talibong Island, Trang Province, Thailand

Abstract

To study feeding selectiveness of dugongs, community structure of seagrass meadows and distribution of dugong feeding trails were investigated around Talibong Island, Thailand, during the dry season 2005. The dominant species in this area were; Halophila ovalis, Cymodocea serrulata, Cymodocea rotundata, Enhalus acoroides. H. ovalis dominated in shallow areas mainly on tidelands and in deep areas, E. acoroides dominated areas that received the strongest influence of drift sand, such as shallow offshore sides of the seagrass meadows, or waterways. Along coastal sides of E. acoroides communities, the comparatively calm inner sides were dominated by C. serrulata and C. rotundata. Among those seagrass meadows, concentration of dugong feeding trails were observed at H. ovalis communities in tidelands, therefore dugongs selectively feed on H. ovalis at tidelands in this study site during dry season.