Heavy metals distribution in the coral reef ecosystems of the Northern Red Sea

Table 4 Summary of correlations among metals, organic matter, and covers of live and dead corals in all reef sites

Metal	Sample	Live coral cover			Dead coral cover			Total organic matter
Metal	Sample	r	r ²	P	r	r ²	P	r	r ²	P
Cu	W	−0.82	0.67	0.025	0.82	0.67	0.025	0.90	0.82	0.005
Cu	S	−0.72	0.52	0.067	0.82	0.68	0.023	0.81	0.66	0.026
Zn	W	−0.67	0.44	0.103	0.76	0.57	0.049	0.85	0.72	0.015
Zn	S	−0.83	0.69	0.021	0.80	0.64	0.031	0.65	0.43	0.116
Pb	W	−0.81	0.65	0.028	0.81	0.66	0.026	0.89	0.79	0.008
Pb	S	−0.92	0.85	0.003	0.89	0.80	0.007	0.81	0.65	0.029
Cd	W	−0.52	0.27	0.236	0.48	0.23	0.278	0.96	0.92	0.001
Cd	S	−0.94	0.89	0.001	0.95	0.91	0.001	0.78	0.61	0.038
Ni	W	−0.76	0.58	0.046	0.78	0.61	0.039	0.78	0.61	0.038
Ni	S	−0.87	0.77	0.010	0.82	0.67	0.025	0.72	0.51	0.071
Co	W	−0.79	0.61	0.038	0.80	0.64	0.031	0.96	0.92	0.001
Co	S	−0.97	0.93	0.000	0.95	0.90	0.001	0.77	0.60	0.041
Fe	W	−0.81	0.66	0.027	0.85	0.73	0.014	0.78	0.61	0.039
Fe	S	−0.36	0.13	0.429	0.28	0.08	0.547	0.22	0.05	0.635

Correlations are significant at P < 0.05
r: correlation coefficient, r²: coefficient of determination, P: statistical significance
W: seawater, S: reef sediment

ISSN: 1438-3888