The Understory Herbaceous Vegetation at Tropical Mountain Forest of Mount Bawakaraeng, South Sulawesi

Abstract

The structure and diversity of understory herb vegetation were studied at Tropical Mountain Forest of Mount Bawakaraeng, South Sulawesi. The study was conducted at two areas. The first area was natural forest (NF) (Site 1). The second area (Site 2) was dominated by Pteridium aquilinum (L.) Kuhn ferns and Lantana camara shrubs (NP). The value of similarity index between the two sides was 22,15. The mean values of diversity parameters at Site 2 relatively higher compared to those in Site 1. The Dominance Diversity Curve for Site 2 shows curve that longer than that of Site 1. There are 12 species that are found at both sites. At Site 1, the highest mean value of Species Richness (S) and Shannon Wiener Diversity Index (H’) are found in Rather Steep Slope (RSS) and the lowest are in Gentle Slope (GS). In the Site 2 area, the highest mean value of S, H’, Simpson’s Diversity Index (1-D) and Pielou’s Evenness Index (E) are found in Flat Slope (FS) and the lowest is in RSS, whilst the highest value of Simpson’s Dominance Index (D) is in RSS and followed in FS and finally in GS. At Site 1, species with highest important value index (IVI) are varying. The most dominant species at Site 2 is Isachne globosa. The Asteraceae family is the family that has species with highest IVI at Site 1. At Site 2, Poaceae family is the plan family that has the most species with the highest IVI at all slope level.