Abstract. Sihombing VS, Gunawan H, Sawitri R.2017. Diversity and community structure of fish, plankton and benthos in Karangsong Mangrove Conservation Areas, Indramayu, West Java, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 18: 601-608. The Karangsong Mangrove Conservation Area in Indramayu District, West Java, Indonesia, extending across 20 hectares of coastal land, has undergone eight years of managed revegetation. It has a variety of productive habitats that support the availability of fish resources. The research described in this paper was conducted in July 2016 with the purpose of assessing the diversity, evenness, and structure of fish, plankton and benthos communities as an indicator of the effectiveness of the rehabilitation of the mangrove ecosystem. The fish, benthos, and plankton were collected and analyzed in the Biotrop Laboratories. Fish sampling was carried out using a gill net with mesh size of 25 mm, and with traps. Juvenile fish were collected using a fish net with mesh size of 15 mm, by combing the water column horizontally for 10-15 minutes in the morning and afternoon. For plankton sampling a net No. 25 was used, while samples of benthos were collected using an Ekman Grab sampler. To calculate the community structure and diversity of fish, the study used ecological indices (abundance, dominance, constancy and ecological significance) and diversity indices (Shannon and Simpson diversity). A total of 413 individuals were obtained from 18 fish species, representing 16 families. Family Lutjanidae and Acanthuridae had the highest representative number of species and Pomacentridae showed the highest relative abundance of individuals. The value for the fish diversity index was 2.44 and for the species evenness index was 0.84. The fish population consisted of 44.44% omnivores, 38.89% carnivores and 16.67% herbivores/ detritivores. The highest density of plankton was accounted for by Bacillariophyceae (78.57%), followed by Chlorophyceae (14.29%) and Zooplankton (7.14%). The diversity index for the plankton (H) ranged between 1.040 and 1.462 across habitats, while the evenness index (E) ranged between 0.144 and 1.22. The benthos consisted of Gastropods (83.58%), Crustacea (3.28%), Palaemonidae (1.64%) and Oligochaeta (11.48%). The diversity index for the benthos ranged from 0. 939 to 1. 199 and the evenness index from 0.158 to 0.207. Hence, it may infer from the domination of the environment by Bacillariophyceae and Gastropods, and the low values for diversity index and evenness index, that the area is not particularly good as a fish nursery and breeding habitat. Nevertheless, there are two species of fish that exhibit potential productivity in every habitat; they are Chanos chanos and Scatophagus argus.

Conflict between the Javan leopard (Panthera pardus melas Cuvier, 1809) and humans occupying the same region have tended to increase in the last decade in proportion to increase in deforestation followed by fragmentation and habitat loss. The objectives of this research were to study the leopard-human conflict and to analyze the causes in order to formulate recommendations for mitigation. Literature study, structured interviews, and field surveys were carried out to collect data on leopard-human conflict. Spatial modeling using weighted overlays generated a map of conflict potential in Western Java. The results showed that in the last 15 years 71 cases of leopard-human conflict had been recorded, with a tendency to increase over time. There have been 75 records of occurrence of the Javan leopard population in Western Java, of which 30% are assessed to have had a high potential for conflict; 25% had moderate potential, and 46% had low potential. There are indications that leopard-human conflict has occurred in villages around degraded forest areas due to human encroachment and cultivation. Consequently, a special forest management strategy must be implemented on a landscape scale, crossing the boundaries of conservation forest, productive forest, protected forest and other land uses.

Biodiversitas 17: 479-486. A Biodiversity Park is a new concept for ex situ conservation in Indonesia which was first launched in 2012. The purposes of a Biodiversity Park are to conserve indigenous and threatened species of flora, provide habitat for a diversity of animals, and to provide opportunities for economic benefit, recreation, education and research. The main goal of Biodiversity Park is to increase flora and fauna diversity in the midst of human settlement and industrial precincts. This research was directed at studying the diversity of faunal communities in the Biodiversity Park of Aqua Danone Ciherang, Bogor, West Java, Indonesia. Line transects, walk transects, terrestrial transects and point count methods were combined to census the mammals, reptiles, amphibians and birds in the Biodiversity Park. Twenty five families of fauna were identified, consisting of 28 genera and 32 species. The Shannon diversity index for the total faunal community was 2.82. Composition of the faunal community consisted of birds (66%), reptiles (16%), mammals (12%) and amphibians (6%). This finding supports the goal that Biodiversity Park can increase flora and fauna diversity. The diversity index of 2.37 for the bird community indicates a beneficial contribution to habitat quality within an urban environment.

Currently, ecotourism has become an important industry because of its rapid development. Many tourism practices have adverse environmental impacts. Due to the increasingly destructive commercialization of the natural resources on which we depend, there are several negative impacts. Aek Nauli Research Forest (ANRF), with an area of 1,900 hectares, is one of the natural tourist destinations around the Lake Toba Tourism area managed by the Aek Nauli Research Institute for Environmental and Forestry Development (BP2LHK). The location of the study is in Girsang District, Sipangan Bolon, Simalungun Regency, North Sumatera Province. The tourist objects are natural panorama, elephant conservation education tour, and siamang animal ape park. On average, the number of visitors of ANRF on regular days is 100-300 visitors/day and on holidays reaches 300-1,700 visitors/day. The increase in the number of visitors is perceived to have an impact on environmental sustainability. This study aims to determine the capacity of the ANRF ecotourism area to accommodate the number of tourists per day simultaneously. The method used is the effective carrying capacity by Cifuentes method based on several stages of analysis, namely Physical Capacity (PCC), Real Capacity (RCC), Management Capacity (MC), and Effective Capacity (ECC). The environmental carrying capacity analysis results showed that the PCC, RCC, ECC were 26,106 visitors/day, 3,007 visitors/day, 2,505 visitors/day respectively while MC was 0.83. This value can be used to advise managers to limit visitors, particularly during peak season, in order to preserve objects and the quality of visits.

The Javan leopard (Panthera pardus melas Cuvier 1809) is a highly adaptable species, and therfore it can be found in most land types such as savannah, grassland, shrub, swampy tropical rain forest, steep mountain forest, dry and deciduous forest, coniferous forest, and even in the vicinity of human settlements. However, in occupying their habitat, the leopard has preferences for certain habitat features that increase their chances for survival. The objective of this research was to study the Javan leopard preferences for particular habitat features such as land type, topography, elevation, and status of forest function. Chi-square tests were applied to test the significance of the correlation between the presence of leopard and particular habitat features. Neu's indexes were calculated to rank the preference of the leopard for the habitat features. The results showed that the Javan leopard has preferences for particular land types, elevations, topography, and forest status. These preferences were correlated with the availability of prey and shelter (cover) and disturbance by human activities. Javan leopard preferred primary forest in mountain areas with height of more than 1,000 m above sea level, steep slopes and protected area in conservation forest, which is less disturbed by human activities.Key words: Leopard, preference, habitat, selection, Panthera pardus. ABSTRAKMacan Tutul Jawa (Panthera pardus melas Cuvier 1809) mudah beradaptasi dengan kondisi lingkungannya, oleh karena itu satwa ini ditemukan di setiap tipe tutupan lahan seperti savana, padang rumput, semak, hutan hujan tropis berawa, pegunungan yang terjal, hutan gugur yang kering, hutan konifer sampai sekitar pemukiman. Meskipun demikian, dalam menempati suatu habitat, Macan Tutul Jawa memiliki preferensi terhadap fitur-fitur habitat tertentu untuk menjamin kelangsungan hidupnya. Penelitian ini betujuan untuk mengetahui preferensi habitat Macan Tutul Jawa, dilihat dari tipe tutupan lahan, topografi, elevasi dan fungsi kawasan hutan. Uji Chi-square ( 2 ) dilakukan untuk mengetahui signifikansi korelasi keberadaan Macan Tutul Jawa dengan fitur habitat tertentu. Indeks Neu dihitung untuk mengetahui fitur habitat yang paling disukai oleh Macan Tutul Jawa. Hasil penelitian ini menemukan bahwa Macan Tutul Jawa memiliki preferensi terhadap tipe tutupan lahan, topografi, elevasi dan fungsi kawasan hutan. Preferensi ini diduga berkaitan dengan ketersediaan satwa mangsa, lindungan (cover) dan tingkat keamanan dari gangguan manusia. Macan Tutul Jawa menyukai tipe hutan primer di daerah pegunungan dengan ketinggian lebih dari 1.000 m dpl, berlereng curam dan terlindungi dengan status sebagai kawasan konservasi yang jauh dari gangguan aktivitas manusia.