Preliminary study on restoration of tropical seagrass ecosystem through utilization of Enhalus acoroides seedling in Bintan Island, Indonesia

Abstract

There has been a global decline in the area of seagrass ecosystems caused by the increasing number of human activities in coastal areas. It is suspected that the decline in the area of seagrass beds in Indonesia is 2%-5% per year. It takes an effort that can be used to restore the condition of seagrass beds. So far, efforts have been made to do seagrass transplants. There is a weakness in the transplant method, namely the reduction of seagrass stands in the origin (donor) area. Another effort that can be used is planting seagrass using seagrass seeds derived from seedlings. Seagrass seeds come from the seagrass, Enhalus acoroides, which is found throughout the year in the waters of Bintan Island. Furthermore, the seeds obtained will be sown for three months in the laboratory. Generally, the survival rate of seagrass seeds during the seedling process has a value of more than 90%, which is very good. Furthermore, the seeds produced from the nursery process are planted in the field. In this experimental study, 25 seedlings were planted. Seedlings were planted directly into the substrate at a depth of 10 cm (sprig method). During the four-month observation period, the survival rate declined to 20%. Several factors that affect the survival rate include the condition of the aquatic environment and human activities around it.