Assessment of Vascular Epiphyte Diversity in a University Arboretum
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63639/3qj1pa19Keywords:
Arboretum, Cencus, Diversity, Epiphyte, VegetationAbstract
Vascular epiphytes are an ecological important of plants that perform a variety of important ecological roles such as mediating nutrient cycles, providing food for canopy fauna and storing water. Despite having a large contribution, information regarding the species composition and diversity of vascular epiphytes in the USU arboretum is not yet available. Therefore, this research was conducted to identifyhe diversity of epiphytes in the arboretum of the Universitas Sumatera Utara. Data collection was carried out using an inventory method in the entire arboretum area (census). Epiphyte morphological characteristics, number of individuals, and host tree species were recorded as primary data. The results of the research show that there are 17 (seventeen) epiphyte species belonging to 7 families in the USU arboretum. Pyrosia piloselloides, Asplenium nidus, and Pyrossia eleagnifolia were the species that obtained the highest Importance Value Index (IVI)s with respective values obtained at 45.48%, 29.43%, and 16.82%. The epiphyte diversity index at the research location is classified as moderate with a value obtained of 1.75. Meanwhile, the species evenness index was classified as high (E=0.62) and the species dominance index showed low results (C=0.27).
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Copyright (c) 2025 Arida Susilowati, Deni Elfianti, Eben Ezer Aprilando Sirait (Author)
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