Floristic diversity and threats in new hilly tourist areas: A case study in the Riam Setongah River Nature Tourism Area, Lamandau Regency Antonius Triyadi (a*), Hendra Toni (a)
a) Department of Forestry, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Palangka Raya, Indonesia
*antonius_triyadi[at]for.upr.ac.id
Abstract
The Setongah River Riam nature tourism area in Lamandau district, Central Kalimantan province, is one of the new destinations developed by the local government in response to the high demand for ecotourism areas, which are becoming increasingly trendy among the younger generation. The influx of tourists has raised concerns about damage to the flora in the area, especially by opening access to encroachment, the risk of fires, landslides, and flooding. Information about changes in the composition of the flora in the area has increased the concern of the parties to protect the seven hills, which are part of the plateaus of Kalimantan and are a sacred place for the Kaharingan people in the regency of Lamandau. The diversity of flora in the Riam Sungai Setongah nature tourism area at the foot of the hills was analyzed using a combination of line and patch methods, in which subplots were systematically created for each trail (nested sampling). Data were collected for subplots at the tree level at 20 m x 20 m, at the stake level at 10 m x 10 m, at the sapling level at 5 m x 5 m, and at the seedling level at 2 m x 2 m. The dominance of a plant species is calculated using the Important Value Index, which is composed of species density, relative density, species dominance, relative dominance, species abundance, relative abundance, and species diversity. Overall, the average value of Species Richness Index in lanes one and two is relatively high with an average value of lane one of 3.994 and lane two of 4.006. The average value of Species Richness Index in lanes one and two has an average value of 12.859 for lane one and 13.018 for lane two. Overall, the average value of the Evenness Index in lanes one and two is 0.931 and 0.915, respectively. Even though the Evenness Index at each growth level is relatively high, the diversity of flora is still to be expected. It is hoped that there will be regulatory and educational efforts to reduce visitor pressure on vulnerable areas.
Keywords: Setongah river- Important Value Index- Floristics diversity
