Evaluation of plant species suitability for lowland forest landscape restoration in Lepan watersheds, Langkat District, North Sumatra, Indonesia

Abstract

Abstract. Samsuri, Ahmad AG, Zaitunah A, Tambusai HK. 2019. Evaluation of suitability of plant species for lowland forest landscape restoration in Lepan watersheds, Langkat District, North Sumatra, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 20: 2903-2909. Lepan watersheds have high management priority in North Sumatra due to healthy biophysical, socio-economic conditions and issues. Many human activities, such as conversion of forest land into settlements and oil palm plantations have resulted in decreasing the ecological functions of the forest landscape. Therefore, it is necessary to initiate efforts and actions to preserve the environment in order to prevent further damage. The effort required is to restore the already damaged ecosystem with the cultivation of species of plants in accordance with the land and soil conditions of the Lepan watersheds. Four criteria are used for determining suitable plants that can be planted as well as cultivated by the community. They are plant species found in natural forests, plant species meeting the physical and soil characteristics, plant species cultivated by community and plant species based on community perceptions. Species matching was determined by scoring and weighting method. This study found that the most suitable species for restoration activities based on these four criteria is Pterospermum subpeltatum.

Vegetation structure of Sumatran Orangutan (Pongo abelii) habitat in North Sumatra, Indonesia

“…Figure 5 shows a family distribution seedling layer. Samsuri et al (2019) found dominant species originating from the Dipterocarpaceae family in Besitang watershed forest landscape in GLNP. Likewise, in areas bordering (edge forest) community cultivation areas, there are many orangutan food sources, namely palm shoots and fruit trees (Hasibuan et al 2019).…”

“…The research shows the dominant existence of the Dipterocarpaceae species, confirming the finding of Aulia (2018), who stated that the most dominant vegetation in the Gunung Leuser National Park Bukit Lawang Section is the Dipterocarpaceae family, namely Shorea parviflora. This is quite different from the dominant species found in the remaining natural forest in the area, eg., Pterospermum subpeltatum, Pometia pinnata, Nephelium lappaceum (Samsuri et al 2019). Dipterocarpaceae also exists in degraded and fragmented forests in Batang Toru as an orangutan habitat (Samsuri et al 2014).…”

Study of policy determination to create a healthy watershed: A case study of Lepan watershed in Langkat district, North Sumatera, Indonesia

“…Planting endemic tree seeds that can provide timber or non-timber forest products is expected to help the community in the Lepan watershed [20]. It will support the people's economic level and avoid converting the forest area into agricultural areas or anything else that can damage the watershed ecosystem.…”

Mapping and assessment of vegetation cover change and species variation in Medan, North Sumatra

“…This requires preparing both the community and land conditions. The land-use planning process was used to provide alternative and possible land uses as well as management activities to ensure land-use sustainability [41].…”