The population of spotted cuscus (Spilocuscus maculatus) and its habitat carrying capacity in Numfor Island, Papua, Indonesia

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to study the population of spotted cuscus (Spilocuscus maculatus) and the carrying capacity of its habitat. The result showed that the cuscus population size in 105 ha research area was 17 individuals, with population density of 0.41 individuals/ha or each individual occupied 2.44 ha. Cuscus is the first consumer in a food chain system that consumes a variety of plants and plays an important role in the spread of plant seeds. Its birth rate is higher than its death rate despite its low reproduction rate. Fruit-bearing trees with diameter > 10 cm as source of food for cuscus consisted of 13 species of 10 families with a diversity index of 2.43 (categorized as moderate). The productivity of cuscus food was 0.75 kg/season/ ha which indicated the limitations of the carrying capacity of cuscus' habitat so that the need of food was fulfilled from secondary forests and community gardens.

Kepadatan Kuskus Genus Phalanger Dan Identifikasi Tumbuhan Pakannya Di Pulau Obi

“…Kuskus merupakan salah satu jenis satwa berkantung endemik kawasan Wallacea Indonesia yang terdapat di Papua (Irian Jaya), Sulawesi, Maluku, dan Pulau Timor (Sinery, 2016). Kuskus Daerah sebaran kuskus di Maluku Utara meliputi Pulau Halmahera, Ternate, Tidore, Gebe, Kayoa, Makian, Sanana, Taliabu, Bacan, Morotai dan Obi.…”

“…Berdasarkan bagian tumbuhan yang menjadi pakan kuskus dapat dibedakan menjadi buah sebanyak 9 jenis (56,25%), buah dan daun sebanyak 3 jenis (18,75%), bunga sebanyak 2 jenis (12,5), buah dan bunga sebanyak 1 jenis (6,25%), dan bagian buah, bunga dan daun sebanyak 1 jenis (6,25%). Dari penelitian terdahulu dilaporkan bahwa bagian pohon yang dimakan kuskus adalah buah, daun muda, bunga, dan pucuk (Farida & Dahruddin, 2000); (Sinery, 2016), sedangkan dari jenis tumbuhan merambat, bagian yang dimakan adalah daun muda dan buah. Dalam penelitian ini tidak ditemukan kuskus mengkonsumsi pucuk dan hewan sebagai pakan.…”

Diversity of Molluscs (Gastropod And Bivalve) In Mangrove Ecosystem of Oransbari District, South Manokwari Regency, West Papua Province, Indonesia

“…Conversely, if the community was composed of several species and if only a very few species were dominant, then the species diversity was low. In addition, (22) stated that the level of species diversity could describe the stability of ecosystem, when the diversity of species in an area is higher, the ecosystem tends to be more stable and it would develop interaction of species which could involve transfers energy, competition and more complex division of space.…”

“…The valueof species evenness index,according to (14), ranged from 0 to 1. According to (22), the evenness index of species indicated the size or proportion of individuals of each species in a community. If each species had similar number of individuals, then the community had maximum value of evenness index.…”

Status Konservasi Vegetasi Pohon di Lahan Bera Womnowi Sidey Manokwari (Sebuah Catatan Kecil Inventarisasi Vegetasi di Hutan Sekunder Papua Barat)

“…Ditemukan di Pulau Numfor Papua sebagai vegetasi tiga besar INP, yang merupakan habitat kuskus (Sinery et al, 2016); memiliki asosiasi positif dengan P. acuminata di unlogged forest Selatan Papua (Murdjoko et al, 2016); dominan di dataran tinggi lahan bera Bremi Manokwari Utara (Budirianto dan Ratnawati, 2018) 5…”