Preservation of Vegetation Diversity to Maintain the Riparian Ecosystem of the Sampean Watershed

Abstract

Riparian vegetation on river borders can affect the riparian ecosystem of the watershed related to its function as a buffer zone and ecotone between water and land. A high diversity of riparian vegetation can indicate that the ecosystem of a river border is in good condition. Therefore, it is helpful to inventory the diversity of vegetation in the riparian zone, which was done in this study using the Shannon-Wiener diversity index. In this research, four plots measuring 5m x 5m, spread across upstream, middle, and downstream areas were used to analyze the types of vegetation, including trees, shrubs, and herbs. The diversity index (H’) results revealed four vegetation species at the tree level, twelve species at the shrub level, and six species at the herb level. The range of H’ values in all sample plots was 1< H’ <3, so the river border was shown to have moderate diversity, which indicated that the ecosystem in the Sampean watershed is relatively balanced. It is necessary to preserve the riparian buffer zone through riparian vegetation restoration management to improve the ecosystem balance of the Sampean watershed.
 Keywords: riparian vegetation, watershed, Shannon-Wiener diversity index