Struktur Komunitas Mangrove dan Bentos di Desa Teluk Belukar, Kota Gunungsitoli, Pulau Nias, Sumatera Utara

Abstract

Coastal areas consist of several main ecosystems such as estuaries, coral reefs, seagrass and mangroves. Mangroves are the main ecosystem that supports coastal life and have a big role in the balance of nature. One of the organisms that live in the mangrove ecosystem is benthos. This research aims to determine the structure of mangrove and benthic communities and the relationship between mangrove density and benthic density. This research was conducted in Teluk Belukar Village, North Gunungsitoli District, North Gunungsitoli City, North Sumatra in March 2023. Research activities were carried out by creating a plot measuring 10 x 10 m2. Each plot contains the size categories of tree (10 x 10 m2), sapling (5 x 5 m2) and seedling (1 x 1 m2). Benthos data was obtained for each plot, with a plot area of 1 x 1 m2. There are 24 types of mangroves found at the research location and 16 types of benthos. The highest value of mangrove species density (Di) obtained at the research location was at the seedling level of 160,000 ind/ha. The highest benthic diversity index (H') is found at station 2, namely 2.69 in the medium category, the highest benthic uniformity index (E) is at stations 6 and 7, namely 0.99 in the high category, the highest benthic dominance index (C) value is found at station 3, namely 0.078 in the low category. Benthic density shows a positive correlation with mangrove density.