AN INTEGRATED ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT OF THE RED-SEA COAST OF SAUDI-ARABIA

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.