VEGETATION COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE DURING POST-FIRE SUCCESSION IN PEAT SWAMP FOREST, CENTRAL KALIMANTAN

• Main Author: Aini, Latifah
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/82392
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Peatlands are wetland ecosystems characterized by high accumulation of organic matter with very low decomposition rates. Indonesia has the largest tropical peatland area in the world with an area of 13.43 million hectares spread across three major islands namely Sumatra, Kalimantan and Papua. One of the provinces dominated by peatlands is Central Kalimantan. However, these peatlands have been degraded, especially due to fires, which also reduce vegetation diversity. This study aims to determine the composition and structure of vegetation in post-fire peat swamp forests with different ages of stands and compare them with peat swamp forests that have never experienced fire disturbance. The research method was conducted using a chronosequence approach. The research was conducted on 3 sites, namely peatland after the 1997 fire (EF-1997), peatland after the 2015 fire (EF-2015) located in the Tumbang Nusa Special Purpose Forest (KHDTK), and the Sabangau Peat Forest Nature Laboratory (LAHG) which served as a reference area (RA) that had never been affected by fire disturbance. Data were collected using vegetation analysis. Vegetation analysis is an activity to study the composition of species and the shape (structure) of vegetation with the aim of seeing and analyzing the level of succession. The parameters used are diversity, dominance, similarity, diameter class distribution, and basal area. 56 tree species and 7 understory species were found in the three sites. The composition and structure of vegetation based on the parameters of diversity, dominance, similarity, diameter class distribution, density, and LAB in the former fire forest in 1997 (EF-1997) were closer to the conditions in the reference area (RA) than the former fire forest in 2015 (EF-2015). The succession process that lasted more than 26 years in the EF-1997 site without fire disturbance can restore the composition and structure of vegetation so that it resembles secondary forest (RA site).