A history of Floral diversity (pollen, spores and algal) during the latest Holocene in the Bandung basin based on palynological analysis in Cihideung, West Java, Indonesia

Abstract

Floral diversity is a measure of number of type flora in an area, and reflects how vegetation develops in response to the environmental condition during a certain time interval. The present study aims to examine changes in the diversity of vegetation (pollen, spores and algae), evenness, and similarity in the Bandung Basin through a core of 240 cm depth using a ground drill, as well as  the radiocarbon dating (940 ± 120 BP) of a clayey peat level, located at the bottom (172.5 - 52.5 cm depth) of study section. Twenty four samples were taken at 5 cm intervals down the surface of the sediment core. Changes were obtained by comparing the quantity of pollen, spores, algae, and the lithology of the deposits. Palynomorph data show that Shannon diversity index ranged from 2.14 to 2.80 for pollen and spores, and 0 to 1.64 for algae; Shannon evenness index ranged from 0.64 to 0.81 for pollen and spores, and 0 to 1.74 for algae; and Jaccard similarity index results ranged from 30% - 68%. Faunal diversity is moderate with a good level of balance, and an overall trend in the increase of diversity in the clayey peat level. These changes are influenced by the presence of the Lembang Fault.