Seagrasses represent several specialized groups of monocotyledons, which have adapted

successfully to colonize the shallow coastal seas and estuaries of the world . (Kendrick e al.
2012) the interaction of biotic, in this case, seagrass meadows and abiotic, such as light intensity,
temperature, water salinity, and pH established the abundance and distribution. The four most
obvious requirements of seagrasses are a marine environment, adequate rooting substrate,
sufficient immersion in seawater and illumination to maintain growth. (Hemminga, 1998)
The substrate in Gili Genting dominated by sand and mud sediments, meanwhile Ela-ela
dominated by sand and dead coral substrates. Where space is available, seagrass populations can
only develop if the substrate is suitable. Most seagrass species are confined to sandy to muddy
sediments, although some species can grow over rock. (Hemminga, 1998) the difference of
substrate types affected the variety of the species in both site. Gili Genting has a more various
species of seagrass than Ela-Ela. In other hand, both of site was dominated by Enhalus acoroides
and followed by Syngiridium isoetifolium in the second place. All of the species able to grow
over rock are characterized by sturdy roots, which penetrate into the crevices of the underlying
rocks, effectively anchoring the plants. Most seagrass species do, however, grow over sandy to
muddy sediments, which are easily penetrated by seagrass roots. (Hemminga, 1998)The
rhizomes of small seagrass species are flexible, whereas those of large seagrass species are often
strongly lignified, being almost woody in some species such as Enhalus acoroides and Posidonia
oceanica (Den Hartog, 1970). This sturdy and woody root structure allowed Enhalus acoroides
dominated the seagrass coverage in Gili Genting and Ela-ela. In contrast, Cymodocea rotundata
and Halophila ovalis have the smallest coverage in Gili Genting which measured at 5% of total
coverage. It may be caused by morphological structure of Halophila and Cymodocea roots,
which have relatively thin roots than other genera such as Enhalus and Thalassia.
The aboveground parts of the plants are usually colonized by a variety of epiphytic
organisms, among which many species of algae, varying in size from microscopically small
unicellular forms to macroalgae with centimetres-long thalli. The leaves and stems of the
seagrasses offer these algae a suitable substrate for attachment and growth. Being part of a living
organism, however, individual leaves and stems can only act as temporary substrates for the
epiphytes. (Trautman & Borowitzka, 1999) the higher amount of epiphyte coverage was found in
Ela-Ela than Gili Genting. Which has been measured at 15.61% in Gili Genting and 41.73% in
Ela-Ela. The species composition and relative abundance of epiphytic algae, furthermore,

depends on environmental conditions, such as exposure to ocean swell, currents and salinity, and
also shows seasonal variation (Kendrick et al., 1988;Borowitzka & Lethbridge, 1989; Kendrick
& Burt, 1997).
The major influence of temperature on seagrasss is physicological, relating to the
individual species thermal tolerance and their optimum temperatures for photosynthesis,
respiration and growth. (Zieman and Wood 1975). The minimum light of seagrass has been
identified at 10-20% of surface light (Duarte 1991). Higher than other marine plants, presumably
because of the high photosynthetic demand to survive rooted in anorexic sediments. Below the
minimum light requirements, seagrass will die. as light intensity increases seagrass growth will
incrase linearly (Short et al 1995)
The average salinity of ocean water is 35 parts per thousand, a measurement that is
abbreviated as 35 (per mill). The symbol is similar to percent, (Walker and Wood 2005)
Most seagrass species can tolerate a wide range of salinity, from full strength seawater to either
brackish or hypersaline waters. (Hemminga, 1998) the salinity tolerance range of seagrass has
been estimated 10 40 . Based on data, the water salinity range of both sites was equal. water
salinty of Gili Genting and Ela-ela has been measured at 39 and 38 . Which these result
indicates seagrass are still in their tolerance range of salinity.
The negative effects of excessive inputs of organic matter on seagrass growth have led
to the notion that highly productive seagrass meadows may 'poison' themselves by driving the
sediment conditions to stressful levels. Indeed, the presence of seagrass meadows does increase
organic inputs to the sediments, not only through their own detritus but also through the trapping
of suspended particles (Ward et aL, 1984; Duarte et aL, 1999; Gacia et al, 1999). There are other
stress factors that may limit the habitat of seagrasses, such as high nitrate and ammonium
concentrations in the water column, which have been reported to have negative effects on
seagrasses (Burkholder et al., 1992; Van Katwijk et al., 1997). Seagrasses appear to be relatively
resistant to contaminants (e.g. Kenworthy et aL, 1993), but they are unlikely to inhabit highly
polluted habitats, which would probably have a rather reduced transparency as well.
Marine sediments can be hostile habitats for plant life, particularly where inputs of
organic matter are excessive. High inputs of organic matter stimulate bacterial activity, raising
the anoxic layer closer to the sediment surface and leading to the development of bacterial

communities with metabolic pathways that result in the accumulation of phytotoxic compounds,
such as sulphide (Hemminga, 1998).
Gili Genting and Ela-Ela located side by side which separated by Budidaya Laut
Lombok. The boating and fisheries acivities was assumed to impact the seagrass meadows.
Additionally seagrass is impacted by direct damage from boating acivities such as actual cutting
by propellers through seagrass, propeller wash and boat hulls dragging through operation and
storange that impact seagrasses include docks which can shade the tide flat and prohibit light
penetration (Hemminga, 1998)