THE ESTIMATION OF ECOLOGICAL CARRYING CAPACITY OF THE TIMOR DEER (CERVUS TIMORENSIS, DE BLAINVILLE 1822) HABITAT AT CIKAMAL GRASSLAND PANANJUNG PANGANDARAN NATURE RESERVE

• Main Author: Idris Firdaus, Fahmi
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/57145
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Timor deer (Cervus timorensis, de Blainville 1822) is a protected species found in Indonesian islands and protected areas, including Pananjung Pangandaran Nature Reserve. There are activities of timor deer outside the nature reserve that harm the deer themselves and people. Research found that the phenomenon was caused by succession of the feeding grounds. There once were three feeding grounds in Pananjung Pangandaran Nature Reserve: Badeto, Nanggorak, and Cikamal. Yet, Cikamal Grassland is the only one to still exist today. As the way to rehabilitate the site, this research aimed to estimate the ecological carrying capacity of the deer’s habitat at Cikamal Grassland. To reach the main goal, there has to be the data of population of timor deer and the percentage and productivity of feed plant. The methods to find out the goals are deer population census, vegetation analyzation, field experiment for knowing feed plant productivity, and estimating the carrying capacity. As results, there are 43 deer in the site consist of 17 adult males, 14 adult females, 2 sub-adult males, 2 sub-adult females, and 8 juveniles. The feed plants cover 61,53-68,33% of Cikamal Grassland, containing Cynodon dactylon 47,93-53,00%, Fimbristylis ovata 5,77-8,20%, Chrysopogon aciculatus 6,40-7,20%, Desmodium triflorum 0-0,60%, dan Axonopus compressus 0-0,13%. Productivity of those plants is 63.407,93 kg/year for 4,4 hectares wide area. Estimation of the ecological carrying capacity of Cikamal Grassland is 18 deer/year.