The Effect of Compost Application in the Silvofishery Pond with Different Mangrove Species on the Phytoplankton Community

Abstract

The effort in improving water quality of fishponds could be conducted with various methods, including the integration of mangrove trees known as silvofishery. However, an additional method could be applied by deploying compost. This research aimed to study the distribution of phytoplankton community in the silvofishery pond and to analyze the impact of compost application in the silvofishery pond planted with different mangrove species. The research was conducted in September 2017. Three silvofishery ponds planted with mangrove species Avicennia marina, Rhizophora mucronata and mixed of both and one control pond were utilized. Compost was deployed in the silvofishery pond as much as 2 kg for 25 m2 area. The sampling of phytoplankton was conducted one week after the compost deployment. Data analysis was conducted for diversity index, while statistical analysis was conducted by chi-square. The result showed that the deployment of compost could slightly improve water quality. There were only five phytoplankton species with total density of 85 ind.l−1 in the control pond, while ponds with A. marina, R. mucronata and mixed of mangrove consisted of 7 species (155 ind.l−1), 7 species (119 ind.l−1) and 5 species (103 ind.l−1) respectively. Diversity index showed medium values (1.56-1.95) with high evenness values (0.97 – 1.0). Chi-square analysis showed that each treatment has a significantly different composition of phytoplankton.