How do green sea turtles influence sediment carbon dynamics in tropical #seagrass ecosystems? This is exactly what Susi Rahmawati is investigating during her PhD in our group at WUR.

For this project we focus on three key foraging site for green turtles; Kapoposang (Sulawesi) and Derawan (Kalimantan) and Belitung (Sumatra) where we found all seagrass to be closely cropped. We placed exclosures, measured greenhouse gases in underwater chambers, took deep sediment cores, measured seagrass biomass and productivity, mapped the area and counted turtles and other grazers. We’ll return to these sites to monitor progress.

Over the past few weeks, we set up her experiments at one of her field locations, Belitung, an island off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. Although this area isn’t particularly known as a key foraging site for green turtles, we found all seagrass to be closely cropped. We placed exclosures, measured greenhouse gases in underwater chambers, took deep sediment cores, measured seagrass biomass and productivity, mapped the area and counted turtles and other grazers.

Susi’ supervisory team:, Rebecca James, Pramaditya Wicaksono and Marjolijn Christianen.  And we further collaborate with colleagues from #BRIN – @BayuPramuda, #Yaya Ulumuddin, and University of Gadjah Mada. Our residence and research permit process went smoothly thanks to sofia yuniar sani and Udhi Eko Hernawan