Short communication: Species composition and growth performance of mangrove forest at the coast of tanah merah, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia

The availability of information about species composition and growth performance of mangrove forests is required to determine the best strategies for sustainable ecosystem management, particularly in the coastal area. This study aimed to quantify the species composition and growth performance of mangrove stand established at the coast of Tanah Merah, East Nusa Tenggara. Forest inventory was conducted using nine permanent sampling plots which evenly distributed in zonations of mangrove. Data were collected in different life stages of vegetation, namely seedling, sapling, pole, and tree. Several parameters were calculated to describe species composition, including importance value index, richness, heterogeneity, and evenness. Four indicators were selected to assess the growth performance of mangrove stand in this location, i.e. mean diameter, average height, timber volume, and wood biomass. Results demonstrated the species composition of mangrove forest consisted of 9 different plants. The highest importance value index of seedling was noted in A. marina (124.09) while the highest importance value index of sapling (86.57), pole (130.01), and tree (118.58) were recorded in S. alba. This location had low level of richness (1.22) and heterogeneity (0.88) but having high level of evenness (0.99). The mean diameter and height of mangrove stand in this area were 15.2 cm and 8.3 m with an average timber volume and wood biomass around 90.7 m3 ha-1 and 65.1 Mg ha-1 respectively. Based on these findings, we suggested to conduct enrichment planting for improving plant diversity of mangrove forest at the coast of Tanah Merah. © 2020, Society for Indonesian Biodiversity. All rights reserved.