Production Rate and Estimation of Biomass and Litter Carbon in the Parak Ecosystem in Maninjau Village, Tanjung Raya District, West Sumatra

Abstract

Litter production is very important in understanding forest cycles, forest growth, and interactions with environmental factors in forest ecosystems. Litter is also beneficial to the soil when it is decomposed. Biomass is the term for the live weight, usually expressed as dry weight, of all or part of an organism, population or community.The purpose of this study was to determine the litter production rate found in the parak ecosystem in Maninjau Village as well as to determine the carbon biomass of the litter. This type of research is a quantitative descriptive study using the 100 x 20 m transect method which is divided into 5 subplots of 20 x 20 m. The results showed that the total average litter production of the Parak ecosystem in Maninjau Village, Tanjung Raya District, West Sumatra for leaf species was 76.03 gr/m²/15 days (5.1 gr/m²/day), for branches was 55.35 gr/m²/15 days (3.7 gr/m²/day) and for fruit was 28.78 gr/m²/15day (1.92 gr/m²/day). The production of biomass and carbon was ranged from 2 to 2.5 kg/m2 and 1 to 3 kg/m2. Study on the wide area of parak is  suggested to achieve more accurate estimation of litter production as well as biomass and carbon storage.