Early growth of native plant seeds in Cibodas Biosphere Reserve, West Java potentially as high carbon stock storage

Abstract

Lailaty IQ, Handayani A. 2017. Early growth of original plant seeds in Cibodas Biosphere Reserve, West Java potentially as high carbon stock storage. Pros Sem Nas Masy Biodiv Indon 3: 412-419. The Cibodas Biosphere Reserve (CBR) is one of the oldest biosphere reserves in Indonesia that to be a model of sustainable area management in the climate change adaptation and mitigation. CBR includes several ecosystem types, both natural ecosystems of Mount Gede Pangrango National Park and artificial ecosystems, one of them is Cibodas Botanical Garden (CBG) as a buffering zone. One of the stages of climate change mitigation effort conducted by CBG is the propagation of native plants that have the potential as carbon stock storage. Acer laurinum Hassk. and Altingia excelsa Noronha are native plants of Mount Gede Pangrango that have the potential. This study used a Completely Randomized Factorial Design to compare the seeds growth of A. laurinum and A. excelsa by the treatment of hoods and without hoods, and five different planting media (cocopeat, humus, humus-husk, sand, and husk). Data analysis was performed using Statistical Tool for Agricultural Research (STAR) and Duncan Multiple Range Test (DMRT) at the significance level of 5%. The results showed that the seed growth of A. laurinum was faster than A. excelsa. The treatment without hood resulted in a higher percentage of germination in A. laurinum seeds, while A. excelsa germination was faster at the hood treatment. In general, the humus medium produced the best germination for both plants. Humus medium and hood treatment was the best combination for A. laurinum seed growth seen from the stem height parameter, number of leaf, length and width of leaf, and length of root. Meanwhile, the sand medium and the treatment without hood produced A. excelsa with stem height, leaf number, and leaf length that higher than other treatments. The optimum humidity and pH of media for the growth of both seeds between 40-80% and 5.8-6.8, respectively. Plant propagation that has the potential to store the high carbon reserve needs to be continuously improved and strived to be acclimatized back to nature in the context of climate change mitigation.