Ecotourism is a practice of utilizing natural ecosystems to support education and conservation efforts. In the Special Region of Yogyakarta (SRY), Indonesia, two mangrove ecosystems have been designated as protected areas and ecotourism sites. However, it is undeniable that the need for space for infrastructure development has been detrimental to these areas. This research set out to identify changes occurring nearby mangrove ecosystems and the impacts they would potentially have in the future. It used a triangulation method that combined secondary data analysis, observation, and primary data collection through in-depth interviews. The observed coastal environments experienced, among others, extensive conversion of agricultural land for the Yogyakarta International Airport (YIA) construction, increased tourism growth and pressures, and varying artificial modifications in parts of mangrove ecosystems utilized for mass tourism; all of which could disrupt sustainability and reduce the ecological functions of mangroves. Intensive aquaculture and iron sand mining in the vicinity could also negatively affect the mangrove ecosystem and ecotourism. Within a certain period, these anthropogenic activities are most likely to pose significant threats to the preservation of mangrove ecotourism. Regional spatial plans are an example of instruments required to regulate sustainable spatial planning and protect mangrove ecosystems.

Shoreline dynamics naturally occur in coastal areas, and over time, are also influenced by anthropogenic processes taking place both on-site and upstream. Bordering the Indian Ocean, the coastal area of Bantul Regency in the Special Region of Yogyakarta is faced with typical strong and high waves that induce changes in its shoreline dynamics and activities. Consequently, tourism, a leading economic sector in the area, often needs to adjust to such changes. Here, shorelines were extracted from the spatial data of time-series Sentinel 2A imagery (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020) using water index transformation, MNDWI, while the land cover changes were analyzed using the Decision Tree classification. Based on the results, accretion appeared most significant from 2016 to 2017, creating an additional 22.32 ha. In contrast, shoreline change from 2019 until 2020 indicated the most severe abrasion that led to a loss of 34.89 ha. The highest rate of landward shoreline change was 41.58 m/year.

Mangrove ecosystems at the estuary of Teleng River, Pacitan Bay, call for preservation, protection, and development as a natural vegetative defense against tsunami impacts. Limited availability of potential land for mangrove growth poses a challenge to sustainable mangrove management. To anticipate land acquisition for another use, it is necessary to study land suitability for mangrove and mangrove conservation priorities in the Pacitan Bay. The land suitability parameters consisted of landform, slope, soil texture, and tidal fluctuation, while the mangrove conservation priority was determined based on several aspects: mangrove land cover reduction, mangrove damage level, beach ridge and riparian zone, and land suitability. The results indicate that lands with high potential for mangroves are distributed along Teleng and Grindulu Rivers but not precisely at the estuary. Based on the suitability results, highly potential and potential lands are proposed for mangrove planting, while existing mangroves are for protection and preservation zones, especially on the sides where relatively young mangroves grow for their roots are not strong enough to withstand river currents.

Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) is an agricultural commodities with a great extent of diversity and high economic value. In Indonesia, the great extent of diversity of sugarcane is evidenced by a large number of cultivars cultivated. Sugarcane diversities at the molecular level can be seen using DNA barcodes, one of which is the matK. The purpose of the study was to identify and characterize matK and reconstruct the phylogenetic tree to determine the phylogeny of 24 sugarcane cultivars Indonesia. matK was amplified using the PCR method with matK F-5’ATGATTAATTAAGAGTAAGAGGAT-3’ and matK R-5’AATGCAAAAATTCGAAGGGT-3. Results showed that the matK gene was successfully amplified as many as 1531 bp. The sequencing process was done to determine the nucleotide sequence and compared with those of the GenBank database. It showed that the samples used had a similarity of 98.87%-99.44% to that of matK in Saccharum officinarum, Saccharum hybrid cultivar and Saccharum spontaneum. Reconstruction of the phylogenetic tree showed that the samples used were located in the same clade with a zero genetic distance, while all the references from NCBI were also located in the same clade. The analysis of genetic variation indicated that it had no haplotype value.

Abstract. Kasiamdari RS, Febiansi D, Prabowo H, Aristya GR, Musthofa A. 2019. Genetic variation and characterization of the sucrose synthase 2 gene (Sus2) in sugarcane based molecular markers. Biodiversitas 20: 3087-3096. Sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) genotype is one of the sugar-producing plants and an important commodity to support the community’s economy. Plant breeders continuously cross-breed these plants to obtain cultivars with desirable traits to produce a variety of new phenotypes. An analysis of variation at gene-level is carried out as an important step in plant breeding programs. The purpose of the present study was to determine genetic variation and characterize the sucrose synthase 2 gene (Sus2) based on molecular markers. Twenty sugarcane cultivars were sampled from Indonesian Sweetener and Fiber Crops Research Institute (BALITTAS) Malang and four sugarcane cultivars from PT. Madu Baru in Polosio A Plantation, Poncosari, Srandakan, Bantul Regency, Yogyakarta. DNAs were amplified using two primer pairs, i.e. AI and SMC226CG. The genetic variations of the twenty-four sugarcane cultivars were analyzed by constructing a dendrogram of the Amplified DNA using Multi-Variate Statistical Package (MVSP) software. The results showed that there were three large clusters, namely Cluster A consisting of ‘PS 865’, ‘PS 951’, ‘PS 921’, and ‘PS 58’, with a similarity index of 57%; Cluster B consisting of the sugarcane ‘Kentung’, with a similarity index of 33%; and cluster C consisting of the sugarcane ‘PSDK 923’, ‘PSBM 901’, ‘TLH 2’, ‘BL’, ‘PSJT 941’, ‘KK’, ‘PS 80.1649’, ‘PSCO 902’, ‘PS 80,910’, ‘PS 882’, ‘PS 862’, ‘PS 851’, ‘PS 881’, ‘PS 865’, ‘PS 384’, ‘VMC 76-16’, ‘BZ 132’, ‘PS 891’, ‘PS 41’ with a similarity index of 60%. Polymorphisms occurred after the DNAs were amplified and after the bands appeared in heterozygous and homozygous individuals. In sugarcane, the Sus2 gene when detected by the molecular marker primer AI showed high-sucrose sugarcane; whereas the Sus2 gene detected by the primer SMC226CG showed low-sucrose sugarcane. Results of the present study showed that all sugarcane samples were detected as having low sucrose except Bulu Lawang and Kentung cultivars.