Effects of the Fragmentation and the Change of the Social and Economical Aspects on the Vegetation Structure in the Rural Home Gardens of West Java, Indonesia

Abstract

ƒnƒf ƒB•EƒX ƒV ƒ• •EƒAƒŠ ƒt ƒBƒ" •â-{OE\ Ž™ •ç-t ‹ª ŽO SUMMARY: The fragmentation and the change of the social and economical aspects in home gardens were thought to change the vegetation structure in rural home gardens of West Java, Indonesia. Effects of the area of open space, the presence of fishponds, profession of householders, and the presence of nurseries in home gardens on the number of species in each stratum, and by the function of plants' utilization was analyzed. The species richness in the home gardens was affected by the area of open space. The species richness decreased when the area of open space was small, especially the number of species in the overstorey was apt to decrease. The function of plants were affected by the presence of fishponds and the area of open space. The ratio of the number of ornamental plants increased when the fishponds were absent and the area was small. The ratio of the number of species for cash crops increased when the fishponds were large and the area was small. It was assumed that 100 m2 was the minimum critical size of the open space for species richness in the multistorey and multifunction of plants in the home gardens.