A Century of Change in an Indonesian Coral Reef: Sluiter's Brandewijnsbaai (1890) Revisited

Corals of Terlena Island were first mentioned more than 125 years ago, when Sluiter in 1890 came up with a new theory of initial reef development. Our aim was to re-visit the reef, investigate the coral community and environmental conditions, identify dominating species and compare the present and past situation. Today the island is part of the international port Teluk Bayur and hosts only few, but unique assemblages of corals, including the first record of Oulastrea crispata from West Sumatra. This localized coral community is due to special environmental and anthropological conditions, with low light conditions and sediment input through rivers and excavations on one hand and protection from wind, waves, red tides and destructive fishing through proximity to the harbour on the other hand. We conclude that only extremely tolerant coral species will survive.