Diversity and carbon stock of weed species in oil palm plantation established with mucuna bracteata dc. ex. kurz.

• Main Author: Muhammad Arifin, Osman
• Format: Final Year Project Report
• Language: English
• Published: Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, UNIMAS 2013
• Subjects: Q Science (General); SB Plant culture
• Online Access: http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/7506/5/DIVERSITY%20AND%20CARBON%20STOCK%20OF%20WEED%20SPECIES%20IN%20OIL%20PALM.pdf; http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/7506/

Existent of weeds in oil palm plantation will decrease the productivity of palm oil and increase cost in term of weed management. Several weed management such as application of herbicides is very popular. However, it may give negative effect as it lead to adverse impact to the environment, public health, and sustainability of biodiversity in long period of time. Therefore, M. bracteata apply as a part of cultural method in management of weed. In order to study the effectiveness of M. bracteata as cover crop, experiment regarding species diversity, species dominant and carbon stock conducted. Sampling was carried out using square quadrate measuring 1 m x 1 m. All weeds were identified, counted, recorded and dried for dry weight determination. The samples were oven dry at 60 °C for 7 days. Shannon – Weiner Diversity Index obtained were 1.1203 and 3.4003 in area with establishment of M. bracteata and area without establishment of M. bracteata of oil palm plantations respectively. Mikania micrantha H. B. K was the most dominant species in area with establishment of M. bracteata (SDR = 0.5560), meanwhile Trema cannabina Lour. was the most dominant species in area without establishment of M. bracteata (SDR = 0.0923). The estimated carbon stock was 2.1867 tonne ha-1 for area with establishment of M. bracteata and 5.9685 tonne ha-1 for area without establishment of M. bracteata.