Abstract: Coral reef ecosystems provide important economic and ecological benefits, but are threatened by human activities and environmental change. Based on the exposure-sensitivity-adaptability model framework, we established an assessment index system of coral reef ecological vulnerability by combining survey data with spatial analysis of points of interest of human activities, and put forward control countermeasures in two Malaysian popular tourist islands, Pulau Redang and Pulau Perhentian. The results showed that ecological vulnerability index of coral reefs in the study area ranged -0.30 to 0.66, with an average value of 0.08 and 0.26 for the stations around Pulau Redang and Pulau Perhentian, respectively. The overall vulnerability of coral reefs in Pulau Perhentian was higher than that in Pulau Redang. The highly vulnerable sites were mainly located in the southern part of Pulau Perhen-tian, while the mildly vulnerable sites were in northwest of Pulau Perhentian and eastern Pulau Redang. The results of redundancy analysis showed that salinity and turbidity were the main environmental factors affecting the ecological vulnerability of coral reefs, while resort and passenger terminal were the main human activity factors. Therefore, controlling the distance between recreational facilities and coral reef areas and dividing marine parks into functional zones would help reduce the vulnerability of local coral reefs, and can be used as alternative strategies for local coral reef conservation and management.

Key words: coral reef ecosystem, ecological vulnerability assessment, coral reef, coral reef protection.