FISIOLOGY ADAPTATION OF SANDY ANEMONE (Heteractis malu) EXPOSED TO ELEVATED TEMPERATURES: LABORATORY CONDITION

Sandy anemone (Heteractis malu), belongs to Phylum Cnidaria, physiologically is very close to coral stone, which was a major component of coral reef ecosystems. As coral stone, Heteractis malu also has symbiotic algae (Zooxanthella). Physiologically, the alga symbiotic relationship of coral stone is almost similar with Heteractis malu. Maintaining Heteractis malu in the laboratory is relativly easier compared to that of coral stone. Advantages of the Heteractis malu vs. stone coral, its body is not covered by limestone makingit easier in processing analyses. The response of the anemone to stress is expected similar with coral stone. This research aims to analyze the response and adaptation of Heteractis malu to the temperature increase of 1 °C and 2 °C of the normal temperature (28 °C). The impact of temperature increases on Heteractis malu did not significantly affect the density of zooxanthellae, however, there was a significant increase of mitotic index. In addition, during a recovery process, Heteractis malu immune system did not show a significant increase based on its mitotic index results tended to decrease during the second phase of stress treatment

Microhabitat Preference of Seastar in Hari Island Waters, Southeast Sulawesi

The objective of this study was to explore the information on the microhabitat preference of asteroidea in Hari Island Waters, Southeast Sulawesi. The specimens were collected in August 2012 and December 2012. The methods used in this study were road sampling technique, freehandpicking, and observation. The geographical coordinate position of the asteroidea and microhabitat were recorded by using GPS and then mapped by using the ArcGIS 10.1. Asteroidea map was overlayed with microhabitat map to determine the microhabitat preference. The study found 9 species of asteroidea belonging to 7 generas, 4 families, and 2 orders. All the asteroidea were relatively common species in the tropical shallow waters. The species were distributed along sides of the island with majority found in the northern side. The dominant species, Linckia laevigata, was found in all microhabitat which had beed adapted to various microhabitat conditions and water fluctuation. Based on area of distribution and population density, seastar tended to use reef coral as its microhabitat preference since reef coral could serve as a food source and habitat protection

Impact of Snorkeling and Diving to Coral Reef Ecosystem

Panggang Island is one of the snorkeling and diving area in the Seribu Islands. Number of tourists increase every year in line with the improving of tourism infrastructure such as tourist boat and dive shops. Tourism activities not only provide economic benefits but also give negative impact on coral reef ecosystem. The results of direct observations showed that there was destructive impact from snorkeling and diving. The most destructive behavior done by snorkeling and diver who has license was stepping on the coral reef. While the most destructive behavior by diver who has no license was holding the coral reef. The continued effect of tourist destructive behaviour grouped into three categories such as rubble, scratches on top of coral colony, and crushed coral colony. Based on the tourism impact analysis showed that diverwho has not been licensed gived the greatest damage impact,it was 13.55% per year of the ecological potential. While the impact of snorkeling touristwas 5.05% and diver who has license gived the smallest effect, it was 2.36%. Comparison of coral reef data between 2010 and 2016 showed no significant changes to the coral reef, it means that until now coral reefs of Panggang Island still tolerate any disturbances including impact of tourism activities.Keywords : coral reef, diving, snorkeling, tourism, Panggang IslandPanggang Island is one of the snorkeling and diving area in the Seribu Islands. Number of tourists increase every year in line with the improving of tourism infrastructure such as tourist boat and dive shops. Tourism activities not only provide economic benefits but also give negative impact on coral reef ecosystem. The results of direct observations showed that there was destructive impact from snorkeling and diving. The most destructive behavior done by snorkeling and diver who has license was stepping on the coral reef. While the most destructive behavior by diver who has no license was holding the coral reef. The continued effect of tourist destructive behaviour grouped into three categories such as rubble, scratches on top of coral colony, and crushed coral colony. Based on the tourism impact analysis showed that diverwho has not been licensed gived the greatest damage impact,it was 13.55% per year of the ecological potential. While the impact of snorkeling touristwas 5.05% and diver who has license gived the smallest effect, it was 2.36%. Comparison of coral reef data between 2010 and 2016 showed no significant changes to the coral reef, it means that until now coral reefs of Panggang Island still tolerate any disturbances including impact of tourism activities

The Effect of Organic Sediment Content on Coral Diversity in Karimunjawa Island, Indonesia

Coral reef now are under threats due to sedimentation. Fatal effect of organic rich sediment, leading corals mortality. Therefore, the study was conducted to investigate effect of organic sediment content to the coral diversity in Karimunjawa Island, Central Java, Indonesia. Field data was conducted at 6 locations. Three sediment traps were deployed at each sites to measure organic sediment content. Twenty replicated quadrant transects were used to estimate coral density and coral diversity. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to examine the differences of organic sediment content in each station. The linear regression was used to assess the relationship between organic sediment content and coral diversity. Our field result demonstrated that sediment content significantly different between sites with value range from 0.42 mg/800 ml - 1.32 mg/800 ml. Based on the Simson\u27s Diversity Index, the highest coral diversity found at Alang-alang as site with low sedimentation while the lowest coral diversity was found at Legon Lele as site with high sedimentation. The study shown significant negative correlation between organic sediment content and coral diversity with the coefficient of regression 0.68. This study convinces that disturbance on coral reefs might affect coral diversity in Karimunjawa Island, in addition to other factors such as the influence of human activities, natural disruption and climate change

Assessing Ecological Resilience of Indonesian Coral Reefs

Ecological resilience is an important property of natural ecosystem to be understood in coral reef management. Resilience of Indonesian coral reefs was assessed using 2009 COREMAP data. The assessment used 698 data of line intercept transects collected from 15 districts and 4 marine physiographies. Resilience index used in the assessment was developed by the authors but will be published elsewhere. The results showed that coral reefs at western region had higher average resilience indices than eastern region, and Sunda Shelf reefs had higher resilience indices than coral reefs at Indian Ocean, Sulawesi-Flores, or Sahul Shelf. Four districts were found to have coral reefs with highest resilience indices, i.e. Bintan and Natuna (western region), and Wakatobi and Buton (eastern region). Raja Ampat had coral reefs with lower average resilience indices than that of Wakatobi. Uses of resilience index in coral reef management should be coupled with other information such as maximum depth of coral communities