MEIOFAUNAL COMMUNITIES IN A MALAYSIAN MANGROVE FOREST

The free-living benthic copepods and nematodes in samples of decaying leaves and sediment, from a Rhizophora apiculata-dominated mangrove fo rest bordering the Sungai Merbok Estuary in north-western peninsular M alaysia, were identified to putative species. Analyses of community st ructure of these taxa revealed that both are concentrated within the s urface layers of the sediment; communities associated with decomposing leaves are distinct from those associated with the sediment surface; and variation between physically similar sites within the forest is re latively small. It is suggested that the meiofaunal communities in tro pical soft sediment mangrove estuaries respond primarily to salinity a nd exposure gradients as in temperate non-vegetated estuaries. Copepod communities of the Merbok mangrove system appear to be much more dive rse than those in estuarine and saltmarsh habitats in other climatic r egions, and detailed faunal analysis suggests that there is a high deg ree of species endemism, particularly in genera which are only found o n decaying plant material.