Vegetation analysis of ciplukan original habitat
Vegetation analysis is a method used to determine the distribution of various species in a habitat
(Munroe et al., 2021). Short non-woody plants are called grasses. Grass is often found as ground cover vegetation. The results of the analysis of grass vegetation at the research site showed that the highest relative density value was found in creeping grass (
Festuca rubra) with a value of 30.496% so that this grass was found more often than other types of grass. Wudelan grass (
Cyperus kyllinga) has the lowest relative density value of all grass vegetation, namely 0.709% (Table 1). The highest relative frequency was found in grintingan (Cynodon dactylon) with a value of 26.667% while other types of grass had the same value of 6.667%. The distribution of grintingan (Cynodon dactylon) is wider than other grass types.
The results in Table 1 show that the distribution pattern of all species is uniform except for the creeping grass (Festuca rubra), which is clustered. Creeping grass is clustered because it has a V/M value >1 while other species are uniform because the V/M value is <1. A uniform distribution pattern can be produced from high or low frequency values as well as a clustered distribution pattern. The value of the diversity of grass vegetation at the research site is moderate because it has a total h value of 1,994. The amount of diversity (H’) is said to be moderate if the total value is 1≤H'≥3.
This analysis aims to determine which herbaceous plants or shrubs have a high ability to play a role in an environment or community. The herbaceous vegetation or shrubs at the study site contained 25 plant species. The results of the analysis obtained were the highest relative density of sidaguri (
Sida acuta) with a value of 17.226% so that this plant was found more often than other types. The smallest value was found in sawdust (
Serratula tinctoria) and kesum (
Persicaria odorata) with the same value of 0.224%. The highest relative frequency was found in ciplukan (
Physalis angulata) which was 14.286% (Table 2).
Trees are included in plant vegetation other than grass, herbs and shrubs. Trees are plants whose trunks are woody and grow large. The results of Table 3 value density and the highest relative dominance of tree vegetation are owned by teak, namely 42.553% and 79.84%, respectively. Tree vegetation is a large group because it has a larger size than grass, herbs and shrubs. Teak is categorized in groups because the results of the calculation of V/M>1 are 2.432. The tree vegetation diversity index is included in the medium category because it has a value of 1,929 (1≤H'3). Density is the number of each individual in the species present in the sample plot. Relative density describes the number of individuals of each species found in the plot (
Pujiasmanto and Rumia Manurung, 2022). A high relative density value can be interpreted as the number of individuals of each species found in the research location and vice versa. While the frequency is the number of occurrences of each species in the plots that have been made. The relative frequency describes the size of the distribution of a species. The larger the value, the wider the species distribution and vice versa.
Dominance serves to determine how much influence species have with each other in an ecosystem. The plant area and plot area affected the relative dominance value
(Winter et al., 2018). The significance index of a species describes the role of a species in its environment. The greater the important value index according to
Nesbitt et al., (2019) means that the plant has an important role in an ecosystem
(Nesbitt et al., 2019). The value of the diversity of herbaceous vegetation or shrubs at the study site is high because it has a total H value of 3.931. The diversity of H’ is said to be high if the total value of H’>3. Species diversity is one of the factors to state the community structure
(Rhif et al., 2021). The value of H’ also describes community stability, namely the community’s ability to protect itself remains stable even though there are disturbances in its components
(Zhou et al., 2020).
Domestication of ciplukan
The temperature in the greenhouse is 34-38 C. Light intensity 12930-15700 lux. Soil belongs to the type of alfisol. The soil is acidic because the pH value is 5.29 (pH 6.5) and the moisture content is 10.1%. The C-organic value of this soil is 2.25% and organic matter is 3.92%. Organic matter has a role in increasing the availability of nutrients, fertility and increasing the population of soil microorganisms (
Vuković et al., 2021). The results showed that the planting medium had an effect on the height and number of leaves of ciplukan plants (Table 4). The lowest height with a value of 14.84 cm in the soil media treatment. This shows that ciplukan can grow with soil media without fertilizer. However, with the addition of organic vermicompost fertilizer, the highest plant yield was 27.80 cm. The lowest number of leaves was found in the soil media and soil + husk media. While soil treatment + vermicompost fertilizer showed the highest number of leaves, which was 158 strands. This is because vermicompost can improve soil structure and stabilize soil aeration. Worm fertillizer contains nutrients (N, P, K and Ca) and
Azotobacter sp (N-fixing bacteria) which can help plant growth. If the nutrients are sufficient, the plant growth will be faster
(Mahmud et al., 2018).
The results showed that the planting medium affected the number of flowers, fruit and fruit weight (Table 5). The highest average number of flowers and fruits was found in the treatment of soil planting media: vermicompost, namely 26 flowers and 55 fruits. Based on the results of the study, the number of flowers and the number of fruit in the soil treatment was not significantly different from that of soil: husk and soil: husk charcoal. The lowest fruit weight was 2.788 g in soil planting media treatment and the highest fruit weight was 58.122 g in soil media treatment: vermicompost. Plants that have a small number of fruit, the volume and weight of the fruit per unit are greater.
Planting media had a significant effect on root length (Table 6). The longest root length was found in the soil treatment: husk charcoal, which was 23.36 cm. Husk charcoal acts as an organic material to fertilize the soil. While the soil treatment: husks showed the shortest root length, which was 14.4 cm. The cause of the increase in root length according to
Ardiansyah (2017) occurs because the roots try to reach deeper places to find water sources. The results showed that the growing media had an effect on fresh weight and plant biomass (Table 6). Soil media showed the lowest fresh weight and biomass, namely 10.28 g and 1.05 g. Meanwhile, fresh weight and high biomass in soil: vermicompost were 183.4 g and 19,094 g, respectively. This is due to the availability of nutrients that play a role in the biomass of a plant. Sufficient nutrients will increase the biomass of a plant.
The results of the study that the ciplukan plant which has been growing wild so far can be domesticated as a cultivated plant. This needs to be done considering that this plant has the potential as a medicinal plant, so its existence needs to be protected and its production increased as pharmaceutical raw material (
Purugganan, 2019). Domestication is the adoption of plants and animals from wild life into the environment of human daily life
(Tomar et al., 2021). Domesticated plants will experience changes in both their shape and character. The domestication process is to tame biota to human condition with its needs and capacities
(Farooq et al., 2021). The growing environment is an important factor because it is related to plant growth and production. Domestication was carried out in this study by using a variety of growing media. Planting media has an effect on the growth of ciplukan leaves. Based on the results of the study showed that soil:vermicompost media was able to encourage growth and yield of ciplukan. This is because vermicompost contains nutrients N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S, Fe, Mn, Al, Na, Cu, Zn, Co and Mo so that vermicompost can improve soil structure and stabilize soil aeration
(Hu et al., 2021). Vermicompost contains nutrients (N, P, K and Ca) and
Azotobacter sp (N-fixing bacteria) which can help plant growth. If the nutrients are sufficient, the plant growth will be faster. Element N is one of the content contained in vermicompost. The benefits of element N are to encourage the development of stems, leaves and vegetative growth of plants
(Srivastava et al., 2020).
The results showed that soil treatment: vermicompost produced the highest number of fruits and fruit weight. While the lowest number of ciplukan fruit was found in the treatment of soil and soil: husk, which was 7 pieces. The number of fruits is affected by the leaves and flowers. The leaves will carry out the process of photosynthesis where the more leaves, the more photosynthetic results
(Morales et al., 2020). The results of this photosynthesis will be distributed to help the process of forming flowers and fruit. The heaps of plant photosynthesis are stored in fruit and efforts to optimize photosynthetic results require organic materials and sufficient water for plants
(Karmegam et al., 2021). The soil media treatment caused the lowest fruit weight to be 2,788 gr. The decrease in fruit size with the number of fruits was caused by insufficient photosynthesis to increase fruit size
(Li et al., 2018). While the soil treatment: vermicompost had the highest fruit weight, which was 58,122 gr. Vermicompost has a high organic C content and that increasing microorganisms is the soil formed with worm droppings. Increased soil fertility makes plant growth and yields better
(Blouin et al., 2019).
Soil media: vermicompost also showed the highest wet weight supported by the nutrient content of vermicompost. The availability of nutrients plays a role in the biomass of a plant. Sufficient nutrients will increase the biomass of a plant. The application of organic fertilizers increases the available nutrients, the nutrients absorbed by plants affect the growth of wider leaves (high photosynthesis)
(Yatoo et al., 2021). The results of photosynthesis are used for the development of stem cells, leaves and roots
(Jannoura et al., 2014).