An exhibition highlighting the tremendous biodiversity of Dongsha Atoll, as well as measures for its preservation, is running at the National Taiwan Museum in Taipei City until Sept. 1.
The coral reef of Dongsha Atoll is so rich in life that it has been called an “underwater tropical forest,” the NTM said. As of October, 303 varieties of coral, 679 species of fish and 283 types of mollusks, echinoderms and crustaceans, as well as seven kinds of sea grass and 148 species of seaweed had been identified in its environs, in addition to 211 types of land plants and 257 varieties of birds.
The reef ecosystem covers an area of 500 square kilometers, the museum said. The aim of the exhibit is to introduce this treasure trove of biodiversity to the public and thus raise support for efforts to protect it.
The atoll, located 450 kilometers south of Kaohsiung City in the South China Sea, is part of the Dongsha (Pratas) Islands and center of Dongsha Atoll National Park, the ROC’s first ocean-based national park. “This park is dedicated to research on and conservation of the coral bionetwork,” Yang Mo-lin, director of the Marine National Park Headquarters, said. A research station will be established there in 2013 in conjunction with the National Science Council, he added.
The exhibition, which opened Dec. 28, is co-sponsored by the MNPH, with support from Academia Sinica’s Biodiversity Research Center and the Taiwanese Coral Reef Society. (THN)