Effect of seaweed Kappaphycus alvarezii aquaculture on growth and survival of coral Acropora muricata

Abstract

The cultivation activity of seaweed Kappaphycus alvarezii may threaten the coral reefs. This study aimed to describe the effect of K. alvarezii seaweed cultivation activities on the growth and survival of coral Acropora muricata. The study was conducted using floating seaweed cultivation at two different water depths; 2 m and 5 m with space cultivation of 10 cm, 20 cm, 30 cm and control for each station. The results showed that the highest growth rates of stations I, II, and III (0.033±0.0020 cm, 0.040±0.0011 cm, 0.052 cm±0.0004), respectively and 0.052 ± 0.0004 cm in the control (2 m depth). While the lowest at stations I, II, and III (0.014±0.0014 cm, 0.019±0.0003 cm, 0.022±0.0005 cm) respectively, with the space of 10 cm at depth of 2 m. Two cultivation treatments with spacing and depth significantly affected the growth rate of A. muricata. Even though 5 m depth showed 100% of the survival rate of coral, the cultivation of K. alvarezii at depth level the coral reef ecosystem at a depth of 2 m negatively effect on A. muricata compared to 5 m