Table 4.4 Ecological Value of Intertidal and Subtidal Benthic Habitats

Criteria	Intertidal Habitats	Sub-tidal benthic habitats
Naturalness	Natural habitat with limited human disturbance (flotsam and litter, pollution)	Natural habitat with limited human disturbance (pollution/ dumping, litter).
Size	Small in size	Large in size
Diversity	The species diversity is low.	The species diversity is low.
Rarity	No rare species found in the habitat	No rare species found in the habitat
Re-creatability	The habitat cannot be recreated on site but the jetty armour rock and blockwork will be available for colonisation by intertidal organisms	The habitat cannot be recreated on site.
Fragmentation	The habitats are not fragmented	The sub-tidal habitats are not fragmented.
Ecological linkage	The present habitats are functionally linked to the Marine Park ecosystem as a whole providing a limited source of primary production for transfer to higher trophic levels in the food web.	The present habitats are not functionally linked to any highly valued habitat in close proximity in a significant way.
Potential value	The potential value is low.	The potential value is low.
Nursery ground	No record of significant nursery or breeding ground was found in the survey.	No record of significant nursery or breeding ground was found in the survey.
Age	n/a	n/a
Abundance/Richness of Wildlife	Low	The diversity of the benthic infauna in the region is typical of similar habitats throughout Hong Kong. Seapens and Gorgonians are widespread in similar habitats across Hong Kong.
Ecological value	Low	Low