摘要
Fringing reefs are well developed on the southwest coast of Xuwen County at the Leizhou Peninsula,southernmost tip of China mainland. According to the coral ecology and reef-flat topographic features,the Dengloujiao fringing reef on the west coast of Xuwen County can be divided into 4 zones from the shore to the sea: 1) the intertidal zone; 2) the subtidal inner reef-flat; 3) the subtidal outer reef-flat; and 4) the subtidal reef-flat rim of living corals. Recent surveys on the coral reefs indicate that the environmental changes caused by climate changes, coastal civil construction and population increase resulted in the changes in dominant coral species in reefal area, and the dynamic changes in the coral community.