Determining Ecological Status of Two Coastal Waters in Western Java using Macrozoobenthic Community: A Comparison between North Part and South Part

Abstract

The main problem of coastal waters in Indonesia is generally caused by anthropogenic activities that promoting the accumulation of organic matters in sediments. It was well-known that organic matters in sediment might influence the macrozoobenthic communities. AMBI and M-AMBI are two recent developed indices which could be used to evaluate the health of soft bottom macrozoobenthic community and their ecological quality status. This present study was aimed to compare and evaluate the ecological status of macrozoobenthic communities in Tangerang coast (northern part of Java) and Palabuhanratu Bay (southern part of Java) based on AMBI and M-AMBI indices. This study was conducted in April-May 2013 in Tangerang coastal area, and in May 2016 in Palabuhanratu Bay. There are 18 sampling sites in the Tangerang coast, and 30 sampling sites in Palabuhanratu Bay. The results showed that the disturbance level of macrozoobenthos community in Palabuhanratu Bay based on AMBI analysis ranged from undisturbed to slightly disturbed, while in Tangerang coastal waters ranged from undisturbed to moderate disturbed. Ecological quality status based on the M-AMBI ranged from poor to high for both locations. The AMBI and M-AMBI indices showed that benthic environment in Palabuhanratu Bay was ecologically better than that inTangerang coastal waters.