Seagrass is an important component in coastal habitats such as in the waters of
Bintan because it acts as a protective beach. Seagrasses have the ability to stabilize the
bottom waters of sediments and are able to produce sediments that are able to fertilize the
waters. Seagrass can be a reference in strategic management of coastal areas to improve
the stability of the coastal environment. Seagrass beds are a protected area for small
organisms, a place for spawning aquatic biota, and a place for juvenile and larval
enlargement (Komatsu et al, 2003). Maps of distribution and abundance of seagrasses are
important to know because they can describe coastal areas whether they are damaged or
not.
So far, seagrass monitoring methods still use divers with limited survey area coverage.
For this reason, through this research, an acoustic method was used to detect seagrass and
the habitats that inhabited it.
From the results of the study it can be concluded that the acoustic method can measure
sound intensity or acoustic backscatter from seagrass and the basic waters habitat that
inhabits it. Seagrass height can be measured based on the acoustic reflection value of
seagrass. In the study location there were 3 seagrass groups based on percent closure,
which were small to none of seagrass groups, rare seagrass groups, and many seagrass
groups. Seagrass is mostly in fine sedimentary habitats. The increase in the amount of
seagrass biomass calculated manually is followed by an increase in the value of acoustic
backscattering strength. Identification of seagrass species using the acoustic method has
an overall accuracy of 87%.