Dongsha Atoll National Park

The Dongsha Atoll National Park (Chinese: 東沙環礁國家公園; pinyin: Dōngshā Huánjiāo Guójiā Gōngyuán) is the seventh national park of the Republic of China (Taiwan).

Dongsha Atoll National Park
IUCN category II (national park)
LocationPratas Island
Coordinates20°43′N 116°42′E
Area3,537 km2 (1,366 sq mi)
Established17 January 2007
Governing bodyMarine National Park Headquarters, Ministry of the Interior
www.marine.gov.tw/home-en
Pratas Atoll
Dongsha monument

The marine park is located at Pratas Island (Dongsha Island) in the north of the South China Sea, and includes the Dongsha Atoll (Pratas Atoll), a circular atoll 25 kilometres (16 mi) in diameter with a tropical monsoon climate, and the surrounding seas. The total area is 3,537 square kilometres (1,366 sq mi), with 1.79 square kilometres (0.69 sq mi) of land.[1]

The Park is managed by the Ministry of the Interior. It was established on 17 January 2007; and on 4 October of the same year an administrative office was set up in Kaohsiung City.

Oceanology
Average temperature and precipitation of Dongsha Atoll (1996~2005)
Month JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec Average
Temperature (°C) 21.722.023.9 26.227.929.1 29.629.328.4 26.924.922.3 26.016
Precipitation (mm) 23.925.017.5 56.1141.2166.9 193.7211.4244.2 146.144.076.3 112.192

Ecology

Seagrass Beds are well formed in the atoll and in adjacent waters, providing rich bio-diversities of marine life from fish, jelly fish, squid, sicklefin lemon sharks,[2] and rays to rarer sea turtles, Dugongs, and cetaceans (dolphins and whales).[3][4] Recovery of green sea turtles has especially been noted.[5] Possible use of the atoll as a breeding ground by lemon sharks have been speculated due to the numbers of infants that have been discovered.[6]

See also

References
  1. 各國家公園基本資料表 (PDF) (in Chinese). Construction and Planning Agency, Ministry of the Interior, R.O.C.(Taiwan). June 6, 2014. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
  2. 黃旭磊. 2016. 〈南部〉尖齒檸檬幼鯊 悠游東沙環礁. The Liberty Times. Retrieved on March 28, 2017
  3. Hsiao-yun S. (2013). "Featured Project - Removing the Veil of Mystery from the Seagrass Beds of Dongsha Island". The National Parks of Taiwan. Taiwan Government. Archived from the original (pdf) on 2015-01-03. Retrieved 2015-01-03.
  4. Dai C. F. (2004). "Dong-sha Atoll in the South China Sea: Past, Present and Future". Reports at the ISLANDS of the WORLD VIII International Conference (2004):Changing Islands – Changing Worlds. Institute of Oceanography, National Taiwan University: 517–525. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.571.3480.
  5. III. Achievements of Taiwan’s Marine Protected Areas Archived 2016-11-05 at the Wayback Machine, Fisheries Agency, Council of Agriculture, Government of Taiwan
  6. Xinzhong P.. 2017. 東沙環礁 尖齒檸檬鯊幼兒樂園. The United Daily News. Retrieved on April 30, 2017


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