Transplantation of Enhalus acoroides on a sedimentary beach in Ambon Bay

Abstract

Coastal development in Ambon Bay has been contributing to coastal ecosystem degradations in recent years. One of the negative effects was the over sedimentation that changes the landscape of coastal ecosystem such as seagrass beds. These changes have made this ecosystem lost some of its functions especially as the habitat for other biotas, because the vegetation has been buried and reduced in density. So, in December 2015, a rehabilitation effort has been done at Kate-kate Beach with transplantation techniques of Enhalus acoroides. After 3-11 months of observation, it was noticed that only the transplants in the deeper area survived; on the contrary, the transplants in exposed and dry area during low tide did not survive. Overall, the survival rate of the transplantation project was 49.73% because the transplants need enough submerged condition to support their lives. The study recommends that to rehabilitate damaged seagrass beds due to the over sedimentation, we have to remove the sediment until certain depth during low tide to ensure the transplants are submerged in seawater. On top of that, the local government has to reduce the sedimentation rate from land because over sedimentation will make the beach profile become too shallow and too exposed during the low tide.