A spatial distribution study was carried out to investigate the influence of some environmental factors to planktons using collected samples from the Sungai Pulai estuary, near to the Singapore boarder. Six stations chosen for the field sampling were Port Tanjung Pelepas (S1), Tanjung Bin Charcoal Plant (S2), seagrasses of Pulau Merambong (S4) and Second-Link Bridge (S5) and mangrove areas (S3, S6). There is no significant difference of phytoplankton abundance (p>0.05) between stations.

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... it differs significantly at the level of p<0.05; p= 0.0001 (Two tailed, t=14.10 df=34) between sampling session. In contrast, there is a significant difference of zooplankton abundance (p<0.05) in the sampling stations (χ 2 = 17.3,(5)), but there is no significant difference (p>0.05; p=0.8966) between the sampling session (Two tailed, t=0.1310, df=34). Biplot analysis shows that most species are associated with the stations except for Protoperidinium sp., Lithodesmia sp. and Alexendrium sp. Copepod species including Microcalanus sp., Calanus sp. and Temora sp. are associated with S5. Paracalanus sp., Euterpina sp., Tigriopus sp., Oithona sp. and Pseudocalanus sp. are associated with S1, S2 and S4. The planktons are correlated with the temperature (Pearson's correlation, r 2 =-0.897) and salinity (Pearson's correlation, r 2 =0.9416) in March but no correlation is found in November sampling session. The results indicated the important role of certain environmental factors, namely the salinity and temperature to the distribution of the planktons in Sungai Pulai estuary. ABSTRAK Suatu kajian taburan reruang telah dijalankan untuk meninjau pengaruh alam sekitar ke atas plankton menggunakan sampel plankton yang diperoleh dari muara Sungai Pulai, berhampiran sempadan Singapura. Sebanyak enam stesen pensampelan telah dipilih iaitu Pelabuhan Tanjung Pelepas (S1), Kilang Arang Tanjung Bin (S2), kawasan rumput laut Pulau Merambong (S4) dan juga Jambatan Lingkaran ke-2 (S5)serta kawasan hutan bakau (S3, S6). Tiada perbezaan bererti bagi kelimpahan fitoplankton (p>0.05) antara stesen (χ 2 = 5.547,(5)) tetapi perbezaan bererti didapati pada tahap p<0.05; p= 0.0001 (Two tailed, t=14.10 df=34) antara sesi pensampelan. Sebagai bandingan, terdapat perbezaan bererti untuk kelimpahan zooplankton (p<0.05) di antara stesen (χ 2 = 17.3,(5)) tetapi zooplankton tidak menunjukkan perbezaan bererti (p>0.05; p=0.8966) antara sesi pensampelan (Two tailed, t=0.1310, df=34). Analisis biplot pula menunjukkan kebanyakan spesies fitoplankton berkait dengan stesen-stesen kecuali Protoperidinium sp., Lithodesmia sp. dan Alexendrium sp. Spesies Kopepod termasuk Microcalanus sp., Calanus sp. dan Temora sp. berkait dengan S5. Paracalanus sp., Euterpina sp., Tigriopus sp., Oithona sp. dan Pseudocalanus sp. menunjukkan kaitannya dengan S1, S2 dan S4. Plankton adalah berkait dengan suhu (Pearson's correlation, r 2 =-0.897) dan kemasinan (Pearson's correlation, r 2 =0.9416) dalam bulan Mac tetapi tiada kaitan ditunjukkan pada bulan November. Keputusan kajian ini menunjukkan kepentingan peranan faktor persekitaran tertentu iaitu kemasinan dan suhu terhadap taburan plankton di kawasan muara Sungai Pulai.