Jumat, 23 September 2011

Sulitnya Menjadi Taksonom di Indonesia

Yunanto Wiji Utomo | Tri Wahono | Selasa, 20 September 2011 | 21:24 WIB
JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Indonesia memerlukan tambahan koleksi rujukan biodiversitas (reference collection). Saat ini, koleksi rujukan paling lengkap yang dimiliki Indonesia baru Museum Zooligicum Bogoriense. Koleksinya pun juga masih terbatas.
"Reference collection ini memang mahal, tapi kita harus punya. Idealnya memang tiap propinsi itu punya. Tapi paling tidak kita punya 5, yang mewakili tiap wilayah, misalnya Sumatera, Jawa dan sebagainya," kata Dr. Siti Nuramaliati Prijono, Kepala P2 Biologi LIPI.

Salah satu manfaat yang bisa diperoleh dengan memiliki koleksi rujukan adalah mengetahui jumlah spesies di suatu wilayah. Dengan punya koleksi rujukan, pemantauan terhadap hilangnya suatu spesies dari lingkungan tertentu akan lebih mudah dilakukan.

"Contohnya kita bisa tahu bahwa 90 persen biodiversitas di Ciliwung itu hilang kan karena kita membandingkan dengan reference collection. Kita lihat dari museum di Bogor dan Leiden untuk mengetahui itu," jelas Nuramaliati yang akrab disapa Lili.

Manfaat lainnya, menurut Lili, adalah kemudahan bagi para taksonom untuk mengakses bahan untuk penelitian. Selama ini, untuk mengakses holotype suatu spesies, kadang taksonom harus pergi ke reference collection di luar negeri, menghabiskan biaya yang tak sedikit. Masa untuk melacak keanekaragaman hayati atau biodiversity di Indonesia harus ke luar negeri?

Lili mengungkapkan, reference collection tambahan nantinya bisa dikelola siapapun, misalnya kalangan universitas. Hal utama adalah memastikan bahwa setiap pengelola memiliki komitmen untuk mengelolanya secara berkelanjutan.

"Yang terpenting adalah komitmen. Jangan sampai nanti pemimpinnya ganti lalu bilang, buat apa ini, hanya menghabiskan biaya," kata Lili saat ditemui di acara Kongres dan Seminar Taksonomi Kelautan Indonesia I di Jakarta hari ini, Selasa (20/9/2011).

Tentang koleksi spesimen sendiri, saat ini masih harus ditambah. Jumlah koleksi spesies laut, termasuk yang ada di Museum Zoologi Bogor masih sangat minim. Eksplorasi biodiversitas laut masih harus dilakukan untuk menginventarisasi spesies-spesies yang ada.

Rabu, 21 September 2011

Indonesia Butuh Minimal 45 Taksonom Kelautan


KOMPAS.com - Indonesia merupakan salah satu pusat biodiversity atau keanekaragaman hayati dunia, salah satunya ditandai dengan besarnya jenis spesies di laut. Namun berapa spesies yang sebenarnya ada di laut Indonesia dan apa saja? Pertanyaan ini perlu dijawab dengan inventarisasi keanekaragaman hayati laut itu sendiri.

Prof Dr Suharsono, Ketua Masyarakat Taksonomi Kelautan Indonesia, yang juga peneliti di Pusat Penelitian Oseanografi Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia (LIPI) mengatakan, untuk mampu menginventarisasi keragaman hayati itu, kebutuhan utamanya adalah taksonom kelautan. Sayangnya jumlha taknsonom kelautan di Indonesia masih sangat minim.

"Dibutuhkan minimal 45 taksonom kelautan. Tiap kelas dalam satu taksa harus ada yang menangani. Idealnya dalam satu ordo ada satu taksonom," kata Suharsono dalam Kongres dan Seminar Taksonomi Kelautan Indonesia I yang berlangsung hari ini, Selasa (20/9/2011) di Jakarta.

Sejumlah taksonom tersebut diharapkan mampu meneliti beragam taksa makhluk hidup laut, seperti bakteri, firaminifera, porifera, crustacea, mollusca, echinodermata, coelenterata dan beragam jenis tumbuhan laut serta mangrove. Menurut Suharsono, masih banyak biota laut yang kini masih belum diteliti.

"Bakteri laut ini sudah banyak yang meneliti tetapi secara taksonomi belum banyak. Algae juga masih sedikit. Jenis Bryozoa dan Cetacea juga masih belum banyak," katanya.

Suharsono menjelaskan, beberapa strategi tengah dirancang untuk memenuhi kebutuhan taksonom. Salah satunya lewat edukasi. Institut Pertanian Bogor (IPB), kata Suharsono, tahun ini mulai menyelenggarakan jurusan taksonomi setelah mendapat lampu hijau dari DIKTI.

Strategi lain yang ditempuh adalah advokasi pada pemerintah untuk membangun reference collection kelautan, membentuk jaringan taksonomi dengan memanfaatkan universitas yang ada, kerjasama dengan lembaga internasional serta melakukan ekepedisi.

"Ke depan taksonom Indonesia harus jadi author dalam penamaan spesies. Saat ini banyak yang terlibat penelitian taksonomi tetapi belum menjadi author," kata Suharsono. Menjadi author berarti nama taksonom tercantum dalam nama spesies, seperti Linnaeus yang diterakan pada banyak spesies.

Saat ini, jumlah peneliti Indonesia yang terlibat dalam penelitian taksonomi adalah 20-30an. Namun, hanya 3 peneliti yang bisa dikatakan sebagai taksonom. Peluang menjadi taksonom di negeri yang kaya akan keanekaragaman hayati ini masih sangat besar.

Minggu, 18 September 2011

Coral Reef

Source: Terangi (The Indonesia Coral Reef Foundation)


What is a coral reef?
Coral reefs are massive limestone structure that provides shelter for marine life. They are the gardens and forests of the sea. As one of the largest and most complex ecosystem on the planet, coral reef are home to approximately 25 % of the ocean's species. To imagine a coral reef, think of it as a bustling community, a city of the sea, with the building made of corals, and thousand of inhabitants coming and going, carrying out their business.


What is coral?
Corals look like a plant or a rock. But it is actually composed of tiny, fragile animals called polyp. There are two types of coral: hard corals and soft corals. Hard corals or reef-building corals are hard as rock. Their skeletons are made out of calcium carbonate. Hard corals need zooxanthellae for survival and only live in clear shallow water. Soft corals look like plants or trees. They are non-reef building corals and don't posses zooxanthellae. Soft corals can be found both in tropical seas and in cool, dark water.

What is a polyp?
A polyp is a simple creature. They do not have back bone or invertebrates, and are cousins of jellyfish. A polyp has a sack-like structure. At its free end is a mouth surrounded by numerous stinging tentacles called cnidae. The polyp extracts calcium carbonate from seawater to build a hard external limestone skeleton that protects the soft, delicate body of the polyp.


How do coral eat?
Some corals eat by catching tiny floating creatures called plankton. They extend their long stinging tentacles to capture plankton that float by the ocean currents. Coral polyps are generally nocturnal feeders. They stay inside their skeletons during the day, and come out to feed at night. Hard corals or reef-building corals derive their nutrition from zooxanthellae.

What are zooxanthellae?
Zooxanthellae are single-celled algae that live and grow within the tissue of hard coral polyps. Zooxanthellae and coral have a symbiotic relationship and rely on one another for survival. Zooxanthellae provide the polyps with food through the process photosynthesis. In turn, coral polyps provide zooxanthellae a safe and protected home.

How do coral reproduce?
Corals exhibit sexual and asexual reproduction. Sexual reproduction occurs when the egg and sperm are released into the water. The sperm then fertilized the egg, creating new individual called planula or coral larva. The larva naturally attaches itself to a hard surface and become a coral polyp. In asexual reproduction, the coral polyp divides making an exact genetic copy of itself.

How long does it take for corals to grow?
Corals need a long time to grow. In one year corals can grow about 1cm. In 100 years, massive corals may grow by only 1m. If a 5m coral is damaged, it can take up to 500 years to recover!!!

How old are coral reefs?
Coral reefs are one of the most ancient ecosystem on the earth. The first stages of coral reef evolution began 500 million years ago. Modern coral reefs have been in existence for over 50 million years. Some established coral reefs are between 5,000 and 10,000 years old.


Why are coral reefs important?
Coral reefs provide a range of services to plant earth and her inhabitants. Among the most important for humans are:

* Reefs protect shorelines from erosion
* They serve as nurseries for growing fish
* Reef animals are an important source of protein in the diets of many costal communities
* Reefs are sources of income for many people, through fishing and tourism
* There is evidence that coral reefs may provide the base ingredients for new medicines

What destroys coral reefs ?
Coral reefs are fragile ecosystems and can easily be damaged or destroyed. Among the most destructive practices are blast fishing, the use of poison to stun fish and dropping anchor in coral. Coral can be damaged by just being touched and unaware divers and snorklers are often the culprits. Coral is also damaged as a result of pollution and siltation. Natural phenomena such as earthquakes and predation (for example, by the crown-of-thorns starfish) also damage the coral.

What can you do to help protect coral reefs ?

* Don't purchase items or souvenirs made from coral or other threatened marine life such as dried coral, pufferfish, or giant clam shells.
* Don't touch, stand on, or collect coral when you are snorkeling.
* If you are a diver, maintain control of fins, gauges, and other equipment so that they do not bump against the reef.
* If you have a tropical aquarium, make sure that you do not purchase fish caught using cyanide or other poisons.
* There is evidence that coral reefs may provide the base ingredients for new medicines
* Join an environmental organization that supports marine ecosystems


Read more: Coral Reef | The Indonesian Coral Reef Foundation (KLIK HERE)

Coral Bleaching and Coral Diseases (In Seribu Island, Jakarta)

Source: Terangi (The Indonesian Coral Reef Foundation)
Coral bleaching in Seribu Islands were encountered twice, in February 2006 and February 2007. This phenomena is highly correlated with drastic temperature change (either increasing or decreasing) in a short period. Temparature change is expected to happen every year. The phenomena started when sea surface temprature increased and followed with bleaching to corals which vulnerable to environmental stresses. if the condition become better, corals will recover. If not, white syndromes caused by bacteria will infect them. This disease can not be prevented, and only in a short time (1-2 months), all colony will die. If the phenomena persist and not handled well, biodiversity loss is inevitable.

February 2006: Survey was conducted on 20th February 2006, it was bright, the sea was calm and hot, but two week earliear an oil spill happen. Fishes, clams, and other benthic organism found dead. The island with the highest impact is Belanda Island. Coral colonies from genera Acropora, Pocillopora, Galaxea, and Porites were infected with bleaching and diseases. In April 2006, about 3,9% of hard corals experienced bleaching and 3,9% infected with white syndromes. This phenomena usually happened in the shallow area (1-5) meters and infected 16 genera especially Acroporids and Pocilloporids (Estradivari & Yusri, 2006).

February 2007: Survey was conducted on 7th February 2007 around the cape of Harapan Islands. Bleaching spread to 50% of the coral cover, which occur in 2-6 meter depth. Genera affected includes Acropora, Pocillopora, Stylopora, Merulina, Porites, and Seriatopora (TNKpS, 2007)

Below is the sea surface temperature fluctuation from May 2006 to April 2007


Kurangi Dampak Lingkungan Dengan "RAMAH PADA LINGKUNGAN "

Source:WWF Indonesia
Ayo Bantu Bumi Kita Untuk Bebas Dari Segala Jenis Kerusakan Lingkungann,..!!!
Bahkan aktivitas paling sederhana yang dilakukan setiap hari, dapat membantu memulihkan planet kita yang kian rusak ini. Jangan tunda lagi, mari lakukan sekarang.

Kelangsungan hidup berbagai mahluk hidup di muka bumi kian terancam. Sudah saatnya setiap orang ikut menangani dengan cara masing-masing dan sesegera mungkin. Pastikan semua menggunakan solusi dan teknologi yang ramah lingkungan!

Hemat energi

* Matikan semua alat elektronik saat tidak digunakan. Kerlip merah penanda standby menunjukkan alat tersebut masih menggunakan listrik. Artinya Anda terus berkontribusi pada pemanasan global.
* Pilihlah perlengkapan elektronik serta lampu yang hemat energi
* Saat matahari bersinar hindari penggunaan mesin pengering, jemur dan biarkan pakaian kering secara alami.

Hemat air

* Matikan keran saat sedang menggosok gigi
* Gunakan air bekas cucian sayuran dan buah untuk menyiram tanaman
* Segera perbaiki keran yang bocor - keran bocor menumpahkan air bersih hingga 13 liter air per hari
* Jika mungkin mandilah dengan menggunakan shower. Mandi berendam merupakan cara yang paling boros air.

Hemat kayu dan kertas

* Selalu gunakan kertas di kedua sisinya
* Gunakan kembali amplop bekas

Kurangi, pakai lagi dan daur ulang (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle)

* Bantulah mengurangi tumpukan sampah dunia
* Jangan gunakan produk 'sekali pakai' seperti piring dan sendok kertas atau pisau, garpu dan cangkir plastik
* Gunakan baterai isi ulang
* Pilih kalkulator bertenaga surya
* Simpan makanan dalam wadah keramik, hindar