The Red Sea is a large marine ecosystem in which biological research h
as been considerable but integrated environmental assessment insubstan
tial. Approximately 1400 coastal and offshore (i.e. island) sites in t
he Saudi Arabian Red Sea were examined and an analysis of ordinal data
on the abundance of ecosystems and magnitude of human uses/environmen
tal impacts was conducted. Mangroves, seagrasses, other floral groups
and terrestrial mammals were significantly more abundant at the coasta
l sites than offshore. The coastal sites were also impacted most heavi
ly,while reefs, birds, turtles and marine mammals were significantly m
ore abundant in offshore areas. Latitudinal trends include significant
ly increased abundance of mangroves and seagrasses (and other flora) t
owards the southern Red Sea, and a decrease in abundance of reefs. Sig
nificantly higher levels of beach oil were encountered towards the nor
thern Red Sea, probably reflecting its greater proximity to the Gulf o
f Suez. Cluster analysis using all biological data revealed distinctiv
e groupings which separated according to latitude. The biogeographic p
atterns are comparable to those observed in previous studies for seagr
asses and other communities. Using a relational database, applications
of the findings to coastal management include creation of environment
al profiles for particular sites or sectors, identification of resourc
e-use conflict areas, and selection of representative sites for protec
ted areas. Comparison with data from a complementary investigation in
the Arabian Gulf indicates that the Red Sea is less perturbed by human
activities than the Arabian Gulf. However, it is also evident that th
e Red Sea is no longer a pristine environment.