Survival and growth of transplanted coral reef in lagoon ecosystem of Ihamahu, Central Maluku, Indonesia

Abstract Lagoon ecosystem in Ihamahu has a high potential of biological resources which is utilized by the local community to catch fish in order to fulfill their daily needs. High level of utilization affects coral reef community in the lagoon. This study aims to analyze the survival and growth of life coral transplantation in the lagoon of Ihamahu village. Life corals were transplanted on an artificial substrate of block cement and placed into two lagoons namely Ayao lagoon (Acropora millepora, Porites nigrenscens, and P. cylindrical) and Besar lagoon (Acropora divaricata, A. cardus, Anaropora peurtogelerae, Montipora stelata, and Pavona cactus). The results showed that after three months, all transplanted coral reef in Ayao lagoon survived (100%) whilst only 57% of those in Besar lagoon survived. The results also showed that during the study period, P. nigrenscens grew faster (2.1 cm yr−1) than two other species in Ayao lagoon whereas, in Besar lagoon, A. peurtogelerae showed faster growth (2.70 cm yr−1) compare to the other four species.