Assessment of Biodiversity Conservation Value in the Sustainable Seaport Buffer Zone of Mempawah, West Kalimantan, Using Environmental DNA Metabarcoding Map

Port activities such as loading and unloading goods are reported to cause negative impacts on the aquatic environment. In this context, aquatic biodiversity is greatly impacted due to routine operational activities. This is because ports carry out sustainable management to protect the environment (ecoport) by minimizing damage to water biodiversity. Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding is a complementary or alternative method of conventional sampling used to improve the detection of elusive and cryptobenthic fish species missed by traditional surveys. Therefore, this research aimed to determine the conservation value using environmental DNA metabarcoding mapping at Tanjungpura Port, Mempawah, East Kalimantan. Sampling was carried out in the marine conservation area of Tanjungpura Port, Mempawah, West Kalimantan. The results showed that biodiversity analysis was performed using metabarcoding method through molecular markers 18S rRNA and C Oxidase Subunit 1 (COI). The taxonomic annotation of COI gene produced 24 taxa groups at the phylum level. The identities of OTUs or DNA seqs (reads) groups could not be determined, namely X_Unclassified_Eukaryota and X_Unclassified. The taxonomic annotation of OTUs gen 18S using the SILVA release 138 databases led to 54 phyla, including uncultured, unclassified, and unassigned groups. The biodiversity of the animal group consisted of the phylum Annelida, Arthropoda, Chordata, Cnidaria, Echinodermata, Mollusca, Nemertea, and Porifera. Meanwhile, algae/microalgae comprised Bacillariophyta, Chlorophyta, Chrysophyceae, Dinophyceae, Haptophyta, Phaeophyta, Rhodophyta, and Schizocladia. This showed the potential use of eDNA as an efficient tool for mapping and monitoring biodiversity in Mempawah Port environment.