Abstract:
This study focused on the distribution of orthophosphate and total phosphorus in Setiu
Lagoon, Terengganu involving 14 sampling stations which occupied the area of lagoon,
estuarine and river. Water sample was taken at every station except for stations 7, 8, 9
and 10 where two water samples were taken due to the depth of water level which was
more than one meter. Three samplings had been done due to the monsoon. First sampling
th
was on 8
September 2007 during South West monsoon season while second sampling
st
was done on 21
October 2007 during inter-monsoon and the third sampling was done on
th
29
December 2007 during North East monsoon. Statistic showed that there were a
significant different of orthophosphate between the stations (p
=
0.007) and also between
the sampling periods (p
=
0.000). For total phosphorus, there is no significant different
between stations (p
=
0.267) but there was a significant different between sampling periods
(p
=
0.000). The N:P ratio for samplings in Setiu Lagoon is 19: 1 indicated that phosphorus
is the growth limiting factor that limits the primary productivity in aquatic system in
Setiu Lagoon. For the first sampling, the average value of orthophosphate was 0.33 .±.
0.26 µM and 1.82 ± 0.70 µM for total phosphorus.
