Transplantation of Halodule pinifolia using shell as anchoring device in Setiu, Terengganu

Abstract

Seagrass transplantation has long been conducted to mitigate the global loss of seagrass meadows. However, most of the transplantation methods described by previous researchers for restoration or rehabilitation are not applicable in large scale restoration projects due to labour and cost constraints. Furthermore, most of the described methods focused mainly on temperate species. This study was done in order to test the applicability of a new transplantation method using shell as anchoring device on the tropical species, Halodule pinifolia. Planting units consisting of three continuous shoots on a rhizome anchored to one oyster or scallop shell were placed on the sediment at transplanting site. Four transplanting plots were prepared, each with 15 oyster shell planting units and 15 scallop shell planting units. Transplantation was conducted at Setiu Wetlands in July 2010 until October 2010. Transplants were considered established after 2-3 months when they were morphologically (shoot height) and physically (aboveground biomass) similar to the natural populations, but the survival obtained were low.