Ecological study and coral mortality in the horizontal marine zone of Beras Basah Island, Bontang

The coral reef damage in Probolinggo region was expected to be caused by several factors. The first one comes from its society that exploits fishery by using cyanide toxin and bomb. The second one goes to the extraction of coral reef, which is used as decoration or construction materials. The other factor is likely caused by the existence of large industry on the seashore, such as Electric Steam Power Plant (PLTU) Paiton and others alike. Related to the development of coral reef ecosystem, availability of an accurate data is crucially needed to support the manner of future policy, so the research of coral reef coverage percentage needs to be conducted continuously. The aim of this research is to collect biological data of coral reef and to identify coral reef coverage percentage in the effort of constructing coral reef condition basic data on Binor, Paiton, and Probolinggo regency seashore. The method used in this research is Line Intercept Transect (LIT) method. LIT method is a method that used to decide benthic community on coral reef based on percentage growth, and to take note of benthic quantity along transect line. Percentage of living coral coverage in 3 meters depth on this Binor Paiton seashore that may be categorized in a good condition is 57,65%. While the rest are dead coral that is only 1,45%, other life form in 23,2%, and non-life form in 17,7%. A good condition of coral reef is caused by coral reef transplantation on the seashore, so this coral reef is dominated by Acropora Branching. On the other hand, Mortality Index (IM) of coral reef resulted in 24,5%. The result from observation and calculation of coral reef is dominated by Hard Coral in Acropora Branching (ACB) with coral reef coverage percentage of 39%, Coral Massive (CM) with coral reef coverage percentage of 2,85%, Coral Foliose (CF) with coral reef coverage percentage of 1,6%, and Coral Mushroom (CRM) with coral reef coverage percentage of 8,5%. Observation in 10 meters depth resulted in coral reef coverage percentage of 63,33%. 75% of living coral found on this 10 meters depth are dominated by Acropora branching coral, while the rest 25,21% are filled by Acropora tabulate coral and non-Acropora coral in the life form of branching, massive, sub-massive, foliose, and mushroom, where coral Mortality Index (IM) reached 28,5%. The high number of coral reef coverage percentage on Paiton is caused by successful coral transplantation and low activity of society in this location. The domination of large size Acropora branching coral were estimated comes from a few types, showing that coral resulted from transplantation has grown large and form a complex 3 dimension structure that is suitable for the life form of fish and living benthic.

Coral reefs are unique among ocean associations or communities that are entirely formed by biological activity. This study aims to determine the condition of coral reefs and reef fishes in Dofa Village, West Mangoli District, Sula Islands, 2018. Collecting coral data used the Line Intercept Transect (LIT) method, while coral fish data collection used the visual census method. Water parameters measured are temperature, salinity, degree of acidity (pH), brightness and current velocity. Based on observations, the water temperature ranges from 29.33° C - 29.9° C. The salinity of the waters ranges from 29.67 ‰ - 34 ‰. The degree of acidity is 7.5 which supports the life of coral reef. The water brightness level is 65% - 100%. The current velocity ranges from 0.02 m / s to 0.05 m / s. The condition of the coral reef ecosystem based on the percentage of hard coral cover ranged from 21.02% - 33.7% with low to medium category. The coral mortality index at the study location was small where at station 1 it was 0.487, station 2 was 0.335 and station 3 was 0.205, meaning that there was no significant change for live coral reefs. The abundance of reef fishes ranged from 0.52 ind/m2 - 1.22 ind/m2 which was dominated by the Pomacentridae and Labridae families where the two families were groups of fish that used coral reefs as habitat for feeding ground. The index value of coral fish diversity in the coral reef ecosystem at all stations ranged from 0.58 to 3.60 where the diversity index value was in the low to medium category. The uniformity index is included in the medium category with values ​​ranging from 0.58 to 0.63 which illustrates that the difference in the number of individuals for each species is not too significant. The dominance index of reef fishes at the observation station is very small, ranging from 0.03 - 0.07 which indicates that the dominance of the species is very low, so that the condition of the reef fish community is relatively stable.

Variety in video sampling protocol for coral reef survey worldwide has prompted this study to create an optimized protocol for Coral Video Transect (CVT) technique for coral reef survey in Malaysia. The effect of different vertical distance of the camera above the substrate during video recording, number of frames and points analyzed as well as time spent during field and analysis were examined to determine an optimal protocol for CVT technique at different coral reef conditions in Malaysia’s water. Video recording taken at 0.5 m camera distance was selected as optimize vertical distance above the substrate as it can identify more benthic categories than 1.0 m with lesser time taken as well as frames extracted than 0.2 m. Respectively, 80% of total frames extracted from 20 m transect and analyzed with 50 points per frames were chosen as an optimized sample size for its ability to precisely estimate percent cover and accurately identify benthic categories. This optimized protocol was then compared with Line Intercept Transect (LIT) method. No clear difference in estimating percentage cover of major benthic categories between CVT and LIT method, but CVT recorded a significantly higher number of benthic categories with lesser time spent during field survey as compared to LIT method. This implied that the optimize CVT method can precisely estimate percent cover and accurately identify benthic categories in coral communities and are thus more suitable for scientific research and management purposes than LIT method. Other advantages of using this technique are by providing a permanent data that can be reassessed later on, lesser field time and wider survey area. Overall, this study showed that CVT technique is an acceptable alternative method of coral reef survey in Malaysia.

A comparative study of the accuracy and effectiveness of Line and Point Intercept Transect methods for coral reef monitoring in the southwestern Indian Ocean islands

Coral reefs are the most productive and diverse ecosystems. This study aims to determine the condition of coral reefs, using the Line Intercept Transect (LIT) method. Data were collected in October 2018. The results of the study found 18 categories of benthic growth forms crossed by the transect line, where the biotic component was 63.02% and the abiotic component was 36.98%. The biotic component consists of 26.6% hard corals, 0.44% dead corals, 3.54% algae, and 32.44% other fauna while the abiotic component is only dominated by 36.98% sand. Coral cover of 26.6% shows the condition of coral reefs is in a fair condition. The cause of the low percentage of coral cover caused by human activity (anthropogenic impact). Keywords: Coral reef; Line Intercept Transect; Amahusu Village

Youtefa Bay is a coastal area with a form of closed waters located in front of Jayapura City. The closed waters become Nature Tourism Areas. Population growth in the bay area is increasing and the rapid development activities in the coastal area, for various purposes such as settlements, fisheries, ports, tourism objects, cause increased ecological pressure on coastal and marine ecosystems and resources. This study aims to determine the potential of biological resources through an inventory and identification study, coral reef and the status and condition of coral reef ecosystem health through lifeform analysis and the Coral Death Index. Data collection on coral reef ecosystems is carried out at 2 (two) stations using the LIT (Line Intercept Transect) method. The results found overall the range of percentage of coral cover in the range between 48.44 to 50.26%, while the coral mortality index (MI) ranged from 0.19 to 0.32 at both stations. Health status and condition of the coral reef ecosystem shows poor condition (poor).Key Words: Coral reef; Line Intercept Transect; Health status; Mortality index; Youtefa bay

The choice of ecological monitoring methods and descriptors determines the effectiveness of a program designed to assess the state of coral reef ecosystems. Here, we comparer the relative performance of the traditional Line Intercept Transect (LIT) method with three methods derived from underwater photogrammetry: LIT on orthomosaics, photoquadrats from orthomosaics, and surface analyses on orthomosaics. The data were acquired at Reunion Island on five outer reef slopes and two coral communities on underwater lava-flows. Coral cover was estimated in situ using the LIT method and with LITs and photoquadrats digitized on orthomosaic. Surface analyses were done on the same orthomosaics. Structural complexity of the surveyed sites was calculated from digital elevation models using three physical descriptors (fractal dimension, slope, surface complexity), and used to explore their possible influence in coral cover estimates. We also compared the methods in terms of scientific outputs, the human expertise and time required. Coral cover estimates obtained with in situ LITs were higher than those obtained with digitized LITs and photoquadrats. Surfaces analyses on orthomosaics yielded the lowest but most the precise cover estimates (i.e., lowest sample dispersion). Sites with the highest coral cover also had the highest structural complexity. Finally, when we added scientific outputs, and requirements for human expertise and time to our comparisons between methods, we found that surface analysis on the orthomosaics was the most efficient method. Photoquadrats were more time-consuming than both in situ and digitized LITs, even though they provided coral cover estimates similar to those of digitized LITs and yielded more than one descriptor. The LIT in situ method remains the least time-consuming and most effective for species-level taxonomic identifications but is the most limited method in terms of data outputs and representativeness of the ecosystem.

Putri Island is one of the unique islands which is located in the Bangka Regency. Putri Island has biodiversity ecosystem except for mangrove ecosytems. This study aims to analyze the extent of coral reefs in the shallow waters of Putri Island, and analyze the condition of coral reefs (percentage of cover, life form and coral mortality index). The research was conducted in April – September 2021 at Putri Island with using Line Intercept Transect (LIT) method. The research station divided in to 4 stations where was determined by purposive sampling The results show a map of the distribution of coral reefs in the Putri Island, Bangka Regency. Result show that condition of coral reefs at the research location is a good condition.

Poncan Godang Island is included in the appropriate category based on the suitability of land for the Sibolga tourist area, with the presence of tourism activities that can also affect the amount of biodiversity in it. Considering the importance of coral reefs for biodiversity and sea urchins which also have a role in coral reef ecosystems, it is necessary to conduct research on the condition of sea urchins population and the percentage of coral reefs on Poncan Godang Island. Sea urchin and coral reef data were collected using the Line Intercept Transect (LIT) method by monitoring directly on the transect line along 50 meters. The results obtained indicate that the population of sea urchins in the waters of Poncan Godang Island, North Sumatra can be described, that sea urchins do not affect the coral reef ecosystem because at stations 1 and 5 there is no sea urchin and the percentage of coral cover is classified as bad, but at station 3 there are 32 individuals with coral reef cover conditions, while at stations with The percentage of good coral cover is that at station 4 there are only 25 individuals, as well as at station 2 where the percentage of coral cover is higher than station 3 and there are no sea urchins

Coral reefs are ecosystems with high productivity while being very vulnerable to environmental changes. The oil spill incident in Balikpapan Bay in 2018 still caused damage to the coral reef ecosystem in Tanjung Jumlai, Penajam Paser Utara Regency, East Kalimantan due to the use of dispersants in handling oil spills. Research on the condition of coral reefs is carried out to ensure the sustainability of the benefits of ecosystem products and services provided by coral reef ecosystems to communities around Balikpapan Bay. Coral reef research has been carried out at three transect station locations in the Tanjung Jumlai reef area. This research is aimed to determine the distribution, abundance, and structure of coral reef ecosystems in these waters. The study was conducted in October 2019. Data collection was carried out using the Point Intercept Transect (PIT) method. The results showed that the average percentage of coral cover was 55.7% with a good coral cover category. Substrate covering the bottom of the coral reef ecosystem is dominated by Acropora Tubulate and Acropora Branching from the biotic component, and Dead Coral with Algae and Rubble from the abiotic component. Diversity index value (H') in the waters is categorized as low species richness. This research has been identified only 10 genera in the study area where 9 genera are hard coral species. Similarity Index value (E) included in the medium category and dominance index value (D) belong to the medium category which means that there are no species that are very dominant in the observation area. Water quality at station 1 representing all observation stations shows results that the study area are still appropriate for marine biota according to Minister of Environment Decree 51/2004, except for nitrate content. Sediments also show no trace of hydrocarbons.Coral reefs are ecosystems with high productivity while being very vulnerable to environmental changes. The oil spill incident in Balikpapan Bay in 2018 still caused damage to the coral reef ecosystem in Tanjung Jumlai, Penajam Paser Utara Regency, East Kalimantan due to the use of dispersants in handling oil spills. Research on the condition of coral reefs is carried out to ensure the sustainability of the benefits of ecosystem products and services provided by coral reef ecosystems to communities around Balikpapan Bay. Coral reef research has been carried out at three transect station locations in the Tanjung Jumlai reef area. This research is aimed to determine the distribution, abundance, and structure of coral reef ecosystems in these waters. The study was conducted in October 2019. Data collection was carried out using the Point Intercept Transect (PIT) method. The results showed that the average percentage of coral cover was 55.7% with a good coral cover category. Substrate covering the bottom of the coral reef ecosystem is dominated by Acropora Tubulate and Acropora Branching from the biotic component, and Dead Coral with Algae and Rubble from the abiotic component. Diversity index value (H') in the waters is categorized as low species richness. This research has been identified only 10 genera in the study area where 9 genera are hard coral species. Similarity Index value (E) included in the medium category and dominance index value (D) belong to the medium category which means that there are no species that are very dominant in the observation area. Water quality at station 1 representing all observation stations shows results that the study area are still appropriate for marine biota according to Minister of Environment Decree 51/2004, except for nitrate content. Sediments also show no trace of hydrocarbons.

Coral reefs currently are suffered from natural factors along with increasing anthropogenic activity. Panjang Island, a small reef island located in Jepara Regency, may also be experiencing such conditions. Therefore, this work was aimed to observe the condition of the coral cover of Panjang Island. Line intercept transect was applied to survey the coral cover and mortality index from fourteen stations. Insitu data consisted of the bottom substrate composition of the reefs and the physical parameters of the sea. The secondary data, i.e. coral reef area maps from 2001 to 2019 were taken from Landsat Image 7 and 8, data of wind were obtained from www.ogimet.com, while tidal data were collected from BMKG. The bathymetry was determined from the Geospatial Information Agency data, salinity global analysis forecast Phy 001.024 (CMEMS). Sea surface temperature (SST), and chlorophyll-a distribution were analyzed using ENVI software. The result showed that Panjang Island has a poor to the moderate condition of hard coral. Two out of six categories of abiotic and dead coral were found to be high. The mortality index of coral was in the high category (average 0.52). During research periods the sea waters were characterized by high sea surface temperature (29.34-30.94°C), chlorophyll-a was also tended to be high (0-2.65 mg.m-3), and an average of salinity was high 32 ‰. The weak currents came to all sides of the island, therefore the coral reef was not exposed to extreme currents. The waves came from the east, then the energy decreases after being blocked by coral reefs on the eastern side of the island, so that coral reefs in the northeast and south sides were safer to be exposed. The results suggest that hydrodynamic ecology directly or indirectly affected the percentage of coral cover and mortality index at the reefs of Panjang Island.

Abstract. Asmara A, Dahlan Ma, Rani C. 2013. Ecological status on the density of coral predator Acanthaster planci related to the condition of coral reefs in Tomia waters, Wakatobi National Park, Southeast Sulawesi. Bonorowo Wetlands 3: 1-11. Acanthaster planci, otherwise known as the Crown of Thorns Starfish, is a giant starfish with many thorns and a coral-eating animal. This animal is scattered in various waters, overgrown by several coral types. This study aimed to determine: (i) the ecological status of A. planci in Tomia waters, Wakatobi National Park, (ii) the ecological condition of coral reef in Tomia waters, Wakatobi National Park, and (iii) the relation between the density of A. planci with the coral reef condition (live coral cover and dead corals). The research was conducted by survey and location determination in five stations from nine villages in the Tomia sub-district. Field data sampling was conducted by assessing coral reef conditions based on the line intercept transect (LIT) method, calculating the number of A. planci at a transect line, and measuring environmental parameters such as water flow, temperature, salinity, turbidity, and depth. The results showed that the density of A. planci in Tomia waters in a threatening status was found at Waha Station with a depth of 3-5 m and a density of 0.132 individual/m2. In contrast, the status was still normal in other stations, with a density of A. planci ranging from 0.000 up to 0.012 individuals/m2. The condition of live coral cover in Tomia waters, at 3-5 m in depth at Waitii Barat and Patua 1 Stations were still in good condition, while in Waha (II), Waha (III), and Onemay Stations in a medium category (critical). The depth of 10-13 m at Waitii Barat and Waha (II) Stations were still in a good category, and in Waha (III) Station, Onemay and Wali were in a medium category (critical). The density of A. planci in Tomia waters was negatively correlated with live coral cover and positively related to dead coral cover, but not significantly. However, in the high-density conditions of A. planci, such as at Waha Station with a depth of 3-5 m, the high density of A. planci caused a relatively high decrease in live coral cover and dead coral elevation.

The Research on “Coral Coverage in Baranglompo Island and Bone Batang Island Based on Reef Check Method” was conducted in April 2016. The aims of this study was to determine and to compare the condition of reefs in Baranglompo and Bone Batang Islands based on the percentage of life coral cover by using Reef Check methods. This study also aims to determine which factors that most affect the percentage of coral cover on each island i.e: abiotic factors (temperature, salinity and substrate in the form of rock, rubble, sand, silt/clay); biotic factors (soft coral, recent killed coral, algae, sponges, fish and invertebrates associate) and anthropogenic factors (garbage, ilegal fishing/bombs, stun, anchors, nets) were also investigated. Percentage of life coral cover obtained by Line Intercept Transect (LIT) along 100 meters at a depth of 3 meters and 10 meters. The results showed that the condition of coral reefs in Baranglompo was classified as moderate with an average percentage coral coverage of 42% at a depth of 3 meters and 27% at a depth of 10 meters. While the condition of coral reefs in Pulau Bone Batang was relatively good with average coral cover of 51% at 3 meters depth and moderate with average coral cover of 39% at 10 meters depth. Condition of coral reefs in Bone Batang is better than Baranglompo islands. Anthropogenic impacts in the form of waste is the most influential factor on coral cover on the island Baranglompo. Whereas fishing activities by using dinamite are the factors that most influence on coral cover on the island of Bone Batang. Keywords: Coral coverage, Baranglompo island, Bone Batang island, Reef Check

Coral reef health is an important indicator for the assessment of sustainable protected coral reef management and conservation. Indicator will include some community properties namely coral cover and life forms. Coral cover information is basic data in sustainable marine protected area management. This study aims to determine coral cover in the marine protected area of Tidung Island, Seribu Islands. Data retrieval was carried out in the highly protected area with 3 repetitions at a depth of 5 to 10 meters using the Line Intercept Transect (LIT) method. The results showed that the lifeform was dominated by Coral Foliose (62.56%), other than that it was identified as Coral Encrusting, Acropora Branching, Coral Branching, Coral Massive, Coral Mushroom, and Coral Submassive. Observations identified 9 family and 15 genera with excellent hard coral cover percentage (82%). Coral cover percentage others consisting of abiotic (4.11%), algae (0.85%), dead coral with algae (4.41%), soft coral (3.31%), sponge (2.27%), others (3.05%). Marine protected areas are prohibited areas for tourism and fisheries, nevertheless, with a high percentage of coral cover, Tidung Island MPA can be a spawning ground, feeding ground, nursery ground, thus will creating new fishing grounds which indirectly has an impact on improving the community economy from fish catches.

Bedil Island is included in the Keramat, Bedil, and Temudong Small Island Park (TPK), which was approved by the Regent of Sumbawa. Administratively, this island is included in the Labuan Bajo Village area, Sumbawa, NTB. There is the existence of coral reef ecosystems in these waters that form a reef flat and reef slope profile, that stretches to the southwest and northeast. By its designation as a small island park, the coral reefs in Bedil Island are used as an underwater tourism object. This study aims to determine the current condition of coral reef cover in the waters around Bedil Island, especially in the eastern and southern parts of the island. Coral reefs in the north and west area are limited and there is the existence of seagrass beds. The line intercept transect method is carried out by spreading the roll meter as far as 50 meters on the east and south sides of the island with a depth of 2-3 meters. The coral lifeform that is tangent with the roll meter is then recorded and then analyzed for the average percent cover, clustering status, and coral mortality index. Coral reefs in the eastern and southern parts of Bedil Island are classified as very good/excellent because they have a percent cover value above 75%. In addition, the coral mortality index value is also relatively small which indicates that the corals are living well. Clearwater conditions and locations far from human settlements are thought to be factors that support coral survival. However, the presence of dead coral algae and rubble still indicates a threat of damage even though the value is small. Algae life on the surface of dead coral also indicates that the coral has been dead for a long time.