Chapter 8
Measuring Vulnerability of Coastal
Ecosystem and Identifying Adaptation
Options of Indonesia’s Coastal
Communities to Climate Change: Case
Study of Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia
Ma’ruf Kasim
Abstract General Impact of climate change on coastal regions always affected societies and ecosystems. There are three ecosytems vulnarable to climate change, for
example, coral reefs, mangrove forests, and seagrass habitats. Indonesia is one of the
countries identified to be highly at risk to climate change. Majority of Indonesia’s
population reside in low-lying coastal areas. Recently, most coral reefs in the eastern
part of Indonesia were bleached. Bleaching has significantly reduced fish populations associated with coral reefs and demersal fish. The main factors causing coral
bleaching are the increase and extreme temperature fluctuations. This chapter aims
to explore the level of vulnerability of several coastal ecosystems such as coral
reefs, mangroves, and seagrasses and Identifying the best choice of livelihoods
in order to adapt to climate change in Eastern Indonesia’s coastal areas. Methods
to explore some impact of climate change on coastal community were explored
by Focus Group Discussion (FGD). Response of each ecosystem to the changes
that affect it by providing quantitative assessments. This research results show that
the vulnerability of coral reefs occupies a significant level of decline compared
to mangrove forests and seagrass habitats. One of the factors responsible for this
vulnerability sensitivity is the physiology of zooxanthellae as the main organism
that composes coral reefs. Temperature increases in general will have an impact on
coral reef turning white, or known as coral bleaching. Different from coral reefs,
the impacts of climate change on mangrove forests are indirect because naturally the
fluctuating and increasing temperatures affect the activity of mangroves in absorbing
CO 2 . Temperature fluctuations generally can trigger the reproductive s’ystem of
the main organisms inhabiting mangroves. This is believed to cause complexity in
utilizing economic value resources from mangrove forests. In seagrass ecosystems,
climate change can spur an increase in the abundance of filamentous algae which is a
competitor of seagrass in absorbing nutrients, increasing the disruption of the seagrass
reproduction process. Climate change also will affect the spread and resilience of
M. Kasim (B)
Faculty of Fishery and Marine Science, Halu Oleo University, Kampus Bumi Tridarma,
Universitas Halu Oleo, Jl. Mokodompit, Andounohu. Kendari, Indonesia
e-mail: marufkasim@uho.ac.id
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
R. Djalante et al. (eds.), Climate Change Research, Policy and Actions in Indonesia,
Springer Climate, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55536-8_8
149
Measuring Vulnerability of Coastal
Ecosystem and Identifying Adaptation
Options of Indonesia’s Coastal
Communities to Climate Change: Case
Study of Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia
Ma’ruf Kasim
Abstract General Impact of climate change on coastal regions always affected societies and ecosystems. There are three ecosytems vulnarable to climate change, for
example, coral reefs, mangrove forests, and seagrass habitats. Indonesia is one of the
countries identified to be highly at risk to climate change. Majority of Indonesia’s
population reside in low-lying coastal areas. Recently, most coral reefs in the eastern
part of Indonesia were bleached. Bleaching has significantly reduced fish populations associated with coral reefs and demersal fish. The main factors causing coral
bleaching are the increase and extreme temperature fluctuations. This chapter aims
to explore the level of vulnerability of several coastal ecosystems such as coral
reefs, mangroves, and seagrasses and Identifying the best choice of livelihoods
in order to adapt to climate change in Eastern Indonesia’s coastal areas. Methods
to explore some impact of climate change on coastal community were explored
by Focus Group Discussion (FGD). Response of each ecosystem to the changes
that affect it by providing quantitative assessments. This research results show that
the vulnerability of coral reefs occupies a significant level of decline compared
to mangrove forests and seagrass habitats. One of the factors responsible for this
vulnerability sensitivity is the physiology of zooxanthellae as the main organism
that composes coral reefs. Temperature increases in general will have an impact on
coral reef turning white, or known as coral bleaching. Different from coral reefs,
the impacts of climate change on mangrove forests are indirect because naturally the
fluctuating and increasing temperatures affect the activity of mangroves in absorbing
CO 2 . Temperature fluctuations generally can trigger the reproductive s’ystem of
the main organisms inhabiting mangroves. This is believed to cause complexity in
utilizing economic value resources from mangrove forests. In seagrass ecosystems,
climate change can spur an increase in the abundance of filamentous algae which is a
competitor of seagrass in absorbing nutrients, increasing the disruption of the seagrass
reproduction process. Climate change also will affect the spread and resilience of
M. Kasim (B)
Faculty of Fishery and Marine Science, Halu Oleo University, Kampus Bumi Tridarma,
Universitas Halu Oleo, Jl. Mokodompit, Andounohu. Kendari, Indonesia
e-mail: marufkasim@uho.ac.id
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
R. Djalante et al. (eds.), Climate Change Research, Policy and Actions in Indonesia,
Springer Climate, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55536-8_8
149