Sains Malaysiana 43(10)(2014): 1491–1501

Assessing the Bottom Water Quality of a Ramsar Site Subjected to Anthropogenic Disturbances: A Case Study in Kuching Wetland National Park, Sarawak, Malaysia

(Penilaian Kualiti Air Bahagian Dasar Tapak Ramsar Disebabkan Gangguan Antropogenik:

Suatu Kajian di Taman Negara Tanah Bencah Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia)

CHENG-ANN CHEN^1,3*, CHEN-LIN SOO², SHABDIN MOHD. LONG³ & LEE NYANTI³

¹Borneo Marine Research Institute, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Jalan UMS

88400 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia

²Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Resource Science and Technology, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, 94300 Kota Samarahan, Sarawak, Malaysia

³Department of Aquatic Science, Faculty of Resource Science and Technology

Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, 94300 Kota Samarahan, Sarawak, Malaysia

Received: 28 September 2013/Accepted: 19 February 2014

ABSTRACT

Recently the interest of public and stakeholders were focus on the environmental status of Kuching Wetland National Park (KWNP) due to the increase of urbanization processes and anthropogenic activities. A field sampling which covered 10 stations was conducted at the outer and inner boundary of KWNP in August 2011 during high tide. Physico-chemical water parameters were recorded. Triplicate of near bottom water samples were collected using 2.5 L Van don water sampler (Wildco®) for further analyses of nutrient, chlorophyll a (chl a), biological oxygen demand (BOD) and total suspended solids (TSS). The aimed of the study were to assess the water quality of KWNP and to determine the distribution pattern of physico-chemical components and its relationship to the phytoplankton chlorophyll a concentrations in water between the outer and inner part of KWNP. One-way analyses of similarity indicated that all the study sites were significantly different between stations (p-value < 0.05) and boundaries (p-value < 0.05). Water temperature, pH, ammonium nitrogen (NH4–N) and inorganic phosphorous (Inorg–P) were known affecting the abundance of phytoplankton communities. The concentrations of nitrate nitrogen (NO3–N) at the outer and inner boundaries of KWNP were over-ranged as compared to Malaysia marine standards.

Keywords: Anthropogenic; chlorophyll a; Malaysia; nutrients; Ramsar; water quality

ABSTRAK

Kebelakangan ini perhatian orang awam serta pihak berkepentingan tertumpu kepada status alam sekitar di kawasan Taman Negara Tanah Bencah Kuching (TNTBK) disebabkan oleh peningkatan proses perbandaran dan aktiviti antropogenik di kawasan tersebut. Kerja lapangan merangkumi 10 stesen telah dijalankan pada waktu air pasang di bahagian luar dan dalam TNTBK pada 11 Ogos 2011. Komponen fiziko-kimia air telah direkodkan. Tiga botol sampel air berdekatan bahagian dasar telah diambil dengan menggunakan penyampel air Van don (Wildco®) untuk analisis nutrien, klorofil a (chl a), permintaan oksigen biokimia (BOD) dan jumlah pepejal terampai (TSS). Tujuan kajian ini ialah untuk menilai kualiti air dan menentukan hubungan antara corak taburan komponen fiziko-kimia air dengan kepekatan klorofil a fitoplankton pada bahagian luar dan dalam TNTBK. Analisis kesamaan satu hala menunjukkan bahawa terdapat perbezaan signifikan (nilai-p<0.05) antara stesen bagi semua tempat kajian. Suhu air, pH, ammonium nitrogen (NH4-N) dan fosforus bukan organik (Inorg-P) didapati telah menjejaskan komuniti fitoplankton. Kepekatan nitrogen nitrat (NO3-N) di sempadan luar dan dalam TNTBK didapati telah melebihi paras yang dibenarkan oleh Piawai Marin Malaysia.

Kata kunci: Antropogenik; klorofil a; kualiti air; nutrien; Ramsar; Malaysia

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*Corresponding author; email: chengann@ums.edu.my