Pressures and Status of Seagrass Ecosystem in the Coastal Areas of North Bintan, Indonesia

Abstract

This study investigates the status and anthropogenic pressures on seagrass ecosystem. Urbanization and tourism in the coastal areas of Bintan, Indonesia were increasing in the recent years. They have become new pressures to intertidal ecosystem and habitats, particularly seagrass ecosystem. Seagrass meadows are the important ecosystem and habitats in Bintan region. They provide a wide range of ecosystem services, including for small-scale fisheries and have being Dugongs (Dugong dugon) habitats for food. Currently, the sea grass status is less healthy or damaged with 11 species. The anthropogenic disturbance processes have affected the spatial distribution, percent coverage, biodiversity, and community structure of sea grass. Moreover, several species are hard to find. Directly, sea grass meadows are impacted by introduced coastal development (i.e. settlement area, tourism accommodation, port, etc.), land-based pollution, reclamation, boating traffic, dredging activities and tourism activities. Sea grass conservation area and marine spatial planning based on the land- and seascape connectivity is important for conservation efforts and sustainable management of sea grass.

Community Structure of Seagrass in Harapan Island, Seribu Islands, Indonesia

“…Evans et al (2018) stated that the Seagrass damage can be more severe because of human activities e.g. boating, dredging, dumping, bottom trawling, hazardous wastes pollution, tourism, reclamation (Soe-Htun et al 2017;Evans et al 2018;Karlina et al 2018;Riniatsih et al, 2021). In site 2 also has higher organic compound than site 1, that might be caused site 2 is nearer from residential area therefore produced more household waste and nutrient load which contain nitrogen and phosphorus.…”

The Second Skin of Seagrass Leaves: A Comparison of Microalgae Epiphytic Communities Between Two Different Species Across Two Seagrass Meadows in Lesser Sunda Islands

“…Human disturbances may alter the ecological role of seagrass and its microbiome including the laminates of microalgae epiphytes by possible additions of nutrients because of highly anthropogenic activities. Unfortunately, the temporal indicators of eutrophication (e.g., nutrient sources, turbidity, sedimentation and river discharge) were not taken in this study, yet previous study showed that seagrass ecosystems along with epiphytes are threatened by multiple human disturbances ( Daby 2003 ; Karlina et al . 2018 ).…”

Carbon Storage on Different Species of Seagrass on Tourist Destination Areas: A Measure of Disturbed and Undisturbed Environments

“…Anthropogenic activities could also affect the growth and metabolism shown by a study conducted by Karlina et al [64]. It concluded that anthropogenic activities such as tourism could lead to seagrass meadow degradation in the form of spatial distribution, percent coverage, biodiversity, and community structure of seagrass meadows [65].…”

“…The efficiency of organic carbon stored in the sediment by seagrass is also determined by density, porosity and grain size, and plant uptake's energy efficiency [62]. Another factor that contributes to the high carbon sink capacity achieved by the seagrass beds is the carbon flow pathway, which is also linked to multiple intricate processes [52], such as disturbance by pollutants and the type of substances [64].…”