Human Activities Affecting the Spatio-Temporal Distribution of Benthic Organisms in A Mangrove-Fringed Lagoon, Java, Indonesia

The mangrove-fringed Segara Anakan lagoon in south central Java, Indonesia (Fig. 1) suffers from environmental degradation due to human activities. Its western and central parts are affected by high riverine inputs of sediment due to unsustainable land use practices in the hinterland and by agriculture effluents. Effluents from oil industry in the city of Cilacap are a serious problem in the eastern lagoon. This, illegal logging and conversion of mangroves to agricultural land strongly alter habitats and environmental conditions. In the ongoing SPICE program (Science for the Protection of Indonesian Coastal Ecosystems) we aim to understand how changing environmental conditions affect the ecology of the living resources of the lagoon and its mangroves. International conference ”Mangrove Macrobenthos Meeting” . Coolangatta, Australia, 26-30 Juni 2006