Seagrass meadows of the Wakatobi National Park

Abstract

Seagrasses are abundant marine plants that form large areas of shallow water marine habitat throughout the Wakatobi National Park (WNP). Although there are only a small number of seagrass species in the region, the habitat they create contains a diverse and abundant fauna that has enormous ecological and economic importance to the marine park. The variability of these seagrass meadows and the extent to which different floral species develop has been found to have a large impact upon their value as a habitat for invertebrate and fish assemblages in the WNP. Seagrass meadows in the WNP support over 180 species of fish, many of which co-utilise coral reef and mangrove habitats on a daily basis. In fact, the interaction between these three habitats has a large influence on the abundance, diversity and trophic structure of seagrass fish assemblages in the WNP. Seagrass meadows in the WNP are heavily utilised for their abundant resources, particularly their fish assemblages and their large invertebrates exposed at low tide. Like other marine ecosystems worldwide, these resources are under increasing threat of overexploitation, particularly as a result of increasing local human population size resulting in a greater need for more efficient fishing methods. Seagrass meadows of the WNP require conservation and fisheries management, not just to protect biodiversity, but also for the sustainable development of protein supply within the local region. © 2011 Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.