ASSOCIATION BETWEEN ARTIFICIAL REEF STARS CLUSTER AREA AND REEF FISH ASSEMBLAGE IN MENGIAT BEACH NUSA DUA, BALI

• Main Author: Naufal Trisarjono, Ariq
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/65979
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Coral reef ecosystems contain high biodiversity and provide numerous ecosystem services, yet these ecosystems are facing local and global threats which lead to degradation; thus, restoration efforts are required. Indonesia Coral Reef Garden (ICRG) program in Mengiat Beach Nusa Dua, Bali, has implemented artificial Reef Stars structures for restoration. This study aims to examine the relationship between Reef Stars cluster area and reef fish species richness, and to analyse the dichotomy between single large or several small (SLOSS) areas in influencing species richness. The number of species and abundances were surveyed using UVC stationary point count method at 30 Reef Stars clusters (2.36–99.42 m2) for four periods (5 minutes/period). During the first period, only species data were recorded, while their abundances were counted in subsequent periods. Species-area relationship (SAR) models were fitted to the data to determine the best-fitting model based on AICc value. Results of this study suggest that the Kobayashi, logarithmic, and power models are the best in explaining SAR in this study, respectively. Model averaging based on those three models could produce a new model with better extrapolation capability. The average of actual total species richness (54.3 species) over 30 clusters with a total area of 540.21 m2 was much higher than the extrapolated species richness (35.5 species) of an equivalent area. This result indicates that the configuration of 30 small Reef Stars clusters could hold more species than a virtual single large Reef Stars cluster of equivalent total area.