Understory and Soil Macrofauna Diversity under the Three Young Native Species and Acacia crassicarpa in a Drained Peatland of Pelalawan-Riau, Indonesia

Abstract

Most studies mentioned that Acacia crassicarpa belongs to invasive species that could threat the native biodiversity. To respond that issue, we conducted a study that covers the understory and soil macrofauna diversity of three native tree species, namely mahang (Macaranga pruinosa), skubung (Macaranga gigantea) and geronggang (Cratoxylum arborescens) and an exotic species namely krassikarpa in a drained peatland in Pelalawan, Riau. The observation of understory vegetation under each studied species was undertaken by using 2 x 1 m plots. Furthermore, the structure of macrofauna was observed by pitfall trap methods. Results revealed that there were two fern species namely Neprolephis biserrata and Stenochlaena palustris that dominated the understory vegetation in namely mahang (Macaranga pruinosa), skubung (Macaranga gigantea) and geronggang (Cratoxylum arborescens). The diversity index in vegetation structure among those four tree species was insignificantly varied. Moreover, the percentage of understory coverage under A. crassicarpa was significantly higher than that under all native tree species. On the other hand, Formicidae and Rhinotermitidae were dominant in skubung and krassikarpa. Meanwhile, Formicidae and Blattidae were high in mahang and geronggang. Furthermore, diversity index of macrofauna were significantly low at krassikarpas`s understory compare to other three native species. This study suggested that the introduction of krassikarpa affect the biodiversity.

Financial Analysis of Beekeeping Practices at Acacia crassicarpa Plantation Forest in Riau Province, Indonesia

“…One plant species that is widely used in this type of land is Acacia crassicarpa, a fastgrowing tree species that is adaptable to peatland and widely used as raw material for pulp and paper in Southeast Asia (Harwood & Nambiar, 2014;Sugesty et al, 2015;McKinnon et al, 2018;Nambiar et al, 2018). In addition, A. crassicarpa was considered an exotic plant species by various studies even though it has many problems on the environmental side, such as slow litter decomposition and suppression of local vegetation species (Pribadi & Junaedi, 2021;Junaedi et al, 2022). Research, innovation, and technologies have been developed to support its performance as a potential plantation forest species which includes silviculture techniques, genetic improvement through breeding strategies, vegetative propagation, and environmental protection (Mc Kinnon et al, 2018;Nirsatmanto & Sunarti, 2019).…”