Abstract
AbstractEucheumatoid cultivation is an important alternative livelihood for small-scale farmers in coastal areas in east Malaysia. Over the last 50 years, the same clones of the red eucheumatoid Kappaphycus alvarezii and Kappaphycus striatus have been vegetatively propagated for cultivation resulting in low genetic diversity. This has made the cultivars more vulnerable to pests and diseases, which has been further exacerbated by climate change. There is an urgent need, therefore, to develop new cultivars that are resilient to pests and diseases, as well as environmental change. In this study, wild eucheumatoids were collected from four regions in Semporna, East Malaysia: Kerindingan, Sibuhun, Sebangkat and Omadal. These eucheumatoids were then grown at a commercial seaweed farm in Silungun, Semporna using two methods: i) tie-tie and ii) basket net for 60 days and their performance was evaluated based on growth and survival rates. A higher mean specific growth rate (SGR) was recorded by wild-collected Kappaphycus spp. (2.15 ± 1.90% day−1) and Eucheuma denticulatum (2.83 ± 3.27% day−1) when tie-tie was used. However, survival of the wild-collected eucheumatoids was better with the basket net, which led to a reduction in grazing and prevented detachment from culture lines. Of 212 original individuals, 72 survived throughout the study, despite the prevalence of pests and ice-ice disease. Of these, 46.15% Kappaphycus spp. and 50.75% E. denticulatum survived when cultivated using the basket net and 17.20% Kappaphycus spp. and 30.77% E. denticulatum survived when cultivated using tie-tie. The mean SGR and survival rate were significantly correlated with temperature, salinity, pH, current velocity and rainfall (p < 0.05). The surviving wild-collected Kappaphycus spp. and E. denticulatum have the potential to be developed into new cultivars for possible commercial use.
Funder
UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) for the Global Centre on Biodiversity for Climate (GCBC) project
The research was funded by the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) for the Global Centre on Biodiversity for Climate (GCBC) project
Higher Institution Center of Excellence
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Reference40 articles.
1. Abdullah N, Wibowo ES, Irfan M, Muchdar F, Malan S (2020) Seaweed Kappaphycus alvarezii cultivation using longline method in Kastela waters, Ternate Island Indonesia. AACL Bioflux 13:2336–2342
2. Addinsoft (2023) XLSTAT statistical and data analysis solution. New York, USA. https://www.xlstat.com; accessed 15 September 2023
3. Alibon RD, Gonzales JMP, Ordoyo AET, Echem RT (2019) Incidence of ice-ice disease associated with Kappaphycus alvarezii in the seaweed farms in Zamboanga Peninsula, Mindanao, Philippines. SSR Inst Int J Life Sci 5:2148–2155
4. Badraeni B, Syamsuddin R, Haryati H, Samawi F (2020) Weeds, epiphytes and ice-ice disease on green-strained Kappaphycus alvarezii (Doty) in Takalar waters, South Sulawesi in different seasons and locations of cultivation. Plant Arch 20:2327–2332
5. Bernard M (2018) Seaweed diseases and pests. Wageningen Mar Res, pp 1–2. https://edepot.wur.nl/475726