Plants Diversity in Small Rubber Plantations at Segamat, Johor

Abstract

Species richness in rubber plantations varies considerably with regards to production and management activities. This research was conducted to identify the diversity and richness of common plants in rubber plantations at Segamat, Johor. To answer the question of how rubber plantations owned by local smallholders affects the plant diversity, quadrat random method with 5 x 5 m plotting site was established in three different aged of rubber plantations at Segamat area which are Kg. Sedeng, Kg. Logah and Kg. Jawa. Each of the locations consisted of 10 sampling quadrats making a total of 30 quadrats. The results showed there are a total of 41 species belonging to 36 genera and 24 families in the 30 plots of the three plantations. The most dominant families were Rubiaceae, Euphorbiaceae and Asteraceae. The plants diversity were documented in rubber plantations at different location to record the number of species, the species evenness, similarity index, species richness, abundance parameter and important value index (IV i ). As for all three locations, the plants species were moderately diverse as the value of Shannon Diversity Index (H’) moving closer to Hmax but all the plotted area within three location showed higher evenness in species distribution. Based the result from density and frequency of abundance parameter, Asystasia gangetica species was the common species in all plantations. For the IV i , there was only one species with absolute dominance (higher than 10%) which was Asystasia gangetica with value 13.62% for overall location at Segamat, Johor. In conclusion, the most common species in the smallholder rubber plantations at Segamat, Johor was Asystasia gangetica, Bridelia tomentosa, Ageratum conozoides, Caryota mitis and Melastoma malabathricum. The rubber plantations adopting a minimal or natural management approach were dominated by common weed species and invasive plants. Despite the benefits of maintaining high species diversity for sustaining the gene pool, improving management practices is beneficial to improve yield and productivity.