Assessment of Ecosystem Health and Carbon Stocks in the Seagrass Meadows of Mengiat Beach, Bali, Indonesia

Seagrass meadows provide many important ecosystem services. They are now recognized as blue carbon ecosystems that are crucial in the mitigation of global climate change. This study was conducted at Mengiat Beach in Bali, Indonesia, where there are extensive seagrass meadows along the shorelines, bu...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Devi Nandita Choesin, Amadeus Devin Gouw, Pipit Pitriana
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Diponegoro University; Association of Indonesian Coastal Management Experts 2024-12-01
Series:Ilmu Kelautan
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ejournal.undip.ac.id/index.php/ijms/article/view/64729
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849422240875020288
author Devi Nandita Choesin
Amadeus Devin Gouw
Pipit Pitriana
author_facet Devi Nandita Choesin
Amadeus Devin Gouw
Pipit Pitriana
author_sort Devi Nandita Choesin
collection DOAJ
description Seagrass meadows provide many important ecosystem services. They are now recognized as blue carbon ecosystems that are crucial in the mitigation of global climate change. This study was conducted at Mengiat Beach in Bali, Indonesia, where there are extensive seagrass meadows along the shorelines, but also considerable anthropogenic activity that pose threats to the ecosystem. The objectives of this study were to: (1) describe the seagrass community at Mengiat Beach; (2) assess the health status of the seagrass ecosystem; and (3) estimate carbon stocks stored within the ecosystem. Vegetation analysis was conducted to describe the seagrass community in terms of density, cover, biomass and species importance. Spatial Sentinel-2 satellite data with unsupervised classification was used to determine the extent of seagrass meadows. Carbon stocks in sediment and biomass were estimated using the loss on ignition method. The seagrass community at Mengiat Beach consists of at least five different species, dominated by Cymodocea rotundata. The meadows are characterized by high density (588 ind.m-2) and good cover (60.7%). They are considered healthy, with good ecological quality, as indicated by a SEQI (Seagrass Ecological Quality Index) of 0.69. The seagrass ecosystem stores a significant amount of carbon, with 99.23% of it stored in sediment. Total carbon stock in sediment and seagrass biomass is estimated at 133.39 MgC.ha-1. When extrapolated to the total seagrass area of 43.21 ha, the meadows at Mengiat Beach store a total carbon stock of 5.76 GgC, highlighting their potential as high-carbon reservoirs and importance in climate change mitigation efforts.
format Article
id doaj-art-9fe3780da8c34bd7a459540b057c4a1c
institution Kabale University
issn 0853-7291
2406-7598
language English
publishDate 2024-12-01
publisher Diponegoro University; Association of Indonesian Coastal Management Experts
record_format Article
series Ilmu Kelautan
spelling doaj-art-9fe3780da8c34bd7a459540b057c4a1c2025-08-20T03:31:11ZengDiponegoro University; Association of Indonesian Coastal Management ExpertsIlmu Kelautan0853-72912406-75982024-12-0129448149410.14710/ik.ijms.29.4.481-49424934Assessment of Ecosystem Health and Carbon Stocks in the Seagrass Meadows of Mengiat Beach, Bali, IndonesiaDevi Nandita Choesin0https://orcid.org/0009-0001-9088-8642Amadeus Devin Gouw1Pipit Pitriana2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8996-6036School of Life Sciences and Technology, Institut Teknologi Bandung, IndonesiaSchool of Life Sciences and Technology, Institut Teknologi Bandung, IndonesiaResearch Centre for Biosystematics and Evolution, National Research and Innovation Agency, IndonesiaSeagrass meadows provide many important ecosystem services. They are now recognized as blue carbon ecosystems that are crucial in the mitigation of global climate change. This study was conducted at Mengiat Beach in Bali, Indonesia, where there are extensive seagrass meadows along the shorelines, but also considerable anthropogenic activity that pose threats to the ecosystem. The objectives of this study were to: (1) describe the seagrass community at Mengiat Beach; (2) assess the health status of the seagrass ecosystem; and (3) estimate carbon stocks stored within the ecosystem. Vegetation analysis was conducted to describe the seagrass community in terms of density, cover, biomass and species importance. Spatial Sentinel-2 satellite data with unsupervised classification was used to determine the extent of seagrass meadows. Carbon stocks in sediment and biomass were estimated using the loss on ignition method. The seagrass community at Mengiat Beach consists of at least five different species, dominated by Cymodocea rotundata. The meadows are characterized by high density (588 ind.m-2) and good cover (60.7%). They are considered healthy, with good ecological quality, as indicated by a SEQI (Seagrass Ecological Quality Index) of 0.69. The seagrass ecosystem stores a significant amount of carbon, with 99.23% of it stored in sediment. Total carbon stock in sediment and seagrass biomass is estimated at 133.39 MgC.ha-1. When extrapolated to the total seagrass area of 43.21 ha, the meadows at Mengiat Beach store a total carbon stock of 5.76 GgC, highlighting their potential as high-carbon reservoirs and importance in climate change mitigation efforts.https://ejournal.undip.ac.id/index.php/ijms/article/view/64729blue carboncarbon stockclimate changeseagrass
spellingShingle Devi Nandita Choesin
Amadeus Devin Gouw
Pipit Pitriana
Assessment of Ecosystem Health and Carbon Stocks in the Seagrass Meadows of Mengiat Beach, Bali, Indonesia
Ilmu Kelautan
blue carbon
carbon stock
climate change
seagrass
title Assessment of Ecosystem Health and Carbon Stocks in the Seagrass Meadows of Mengiat Beach, Bali, Indonesia
title_full Assessment of Ecosystem Health and Carbon Stocks in the Seagrass Meadows of Mengiat Beach, Bali, Indonesia
title_fullStr Assessment of Ecosystem Health and Carbon Stocks in the Seagrass Meadows of Mengiat Beach, Bali, Indonesia
title_full_unstemmed Assessment of Ecosystem Health and Carbon Stocks in the Seagrass Meadows of Mengiat Beach, Bali, Indonesia
title_short Assessment of Ecosystem Health and Carbon Stocks in the Seagrass Meadows of Mengiat Beach, Bali, Indonesia
title_sort assessment of ecosystem health and carbon stocks in the seagrass meadows of mengiat beach bali indonesia
topic blue carbon
carbon stock
climate change
seagrass
url https://ejournal.undip.ac.id/index.php/ijms/article/view/64729
work_keys_str_mv AT devinanditachoesin assessmentofecosystemhealthandcarbonstocksintheseagrassmeadowsofmengiatbeachbaliindonesia
AT amadeusdevingouw assessmentofecosystemhealthandcarbonstocksintheseagrassmeadowsofmengiatbeachbaliindonesia
AT pipitpitriana assessmentofecosystemhealthandcarbonstocksintheseagrassmeadowsofmengiatbeachbaliindonesia