COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE ANALYSIS OF PLANT COMMUNITIES AS ESTIMATOR OF EDGE EFFECTS ON PATENGAN I NATURE RESERVE, WEST JAVA

• Main Author: Cyntia Sri Rezeki Hutaba, Indah
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/51057
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Patengan I Nature Reserve is one of the conservation areas located in West Java. This nature reserve is adjacent to a nature tourism park, a tea plantation PTPN VIII Rancabali, and a Limited Production Forest (HPT) area of Perum Perhutani. The large number of community activities in the area bordering the Patengan I Nature Reserve is thought to have an edge effect on the Patengan I Nature Reserve. The presence of edge effects on a forest area can affect the structure, function and composition of plants in the area. The presence of edge effects can be seen from differences in the composition and structure of the plant community from the edge to the forest interior. This study aims to analyze the composition and structure of plant communities in four study areas, namely the three areas of the edge of the Patengan I Nature Reserve bordering the road, limited production forest and tea garden, and one area in the interior zone as a comparison. Vegetation analysis was carried out on tree life forms, poles, saplings, herbs and shrubs by making circular plots with radii sizes of 17.8 m (for trees), 5 m (for poles), 2 m (for saplings), respectively. and 1 m (for herbs and shrubs). Data were analyzed to determine the Importance Value Index (IVI), Shannon-Wiener Index (H '), Dominance Index (C), Evenness Index (E), and Similarity Index (SI). The results of the vegetation analysis showed that there were 50 plant species from various life forms (herbs, shrubs / shrubs, saplings, poles, and trees). The herbs with the highest IVI in the study area were as follows, Bartlettina sordida (interior), Ageratina riparia (tea gardens and HPT), and Oplismenus hirtellus (road), while the shrubs with the highest IVI were Solanum pseudocapsicum (tea garden), Strobilanthes sp. (street), and Elatostemma sp. (HPT). In the live form, the species with the highest IVI were Macropanax sp. (tea garden), Saurauia sp. (road), and Kibara coriacea (HPT). The tree with the highest IVI in the studied area was Quercus sp. (interior), Ficus sp. (tea garden), Lithocarpus sp. (street), and Altingia excelsa (HPT). Species diversity based on the Shannon-Wiener Index (H ') obtained for each life form in the interior, tea garden boundary area, roads, and HPT ranged from 0 to 1.66 respectively; 0-1.56; 0.41-1.97; and 0-1.04. The value of species diversity obtained is in the low category. In the four study areas, the dominance (C) of certain species was not found. The evenness index (E) of each life form found in the area in the interior zone, the border area of tea gardens, roads, and HPT ranged from 0 to 0.51, respectively; 0-0.39; 0.03-0.58; and 0-0.75. The conclusion of this study is that there is an indication of the effect of edge effects on the Patengan I Nature Reserve area based on differences in the composition of plant species at each level of vegetation, a low Evenness Index (E) which indicates abundance for each life form in the four uneven areas, (SI) composition is low and the introduction of invasive species into this area.