Dendrology Science Tower UGM held a guest lecture on Phytogeography of the Tree which was held at Auditorium Faculty of Forestry UGM on Friday (29/9). The event which was attended by more than 150 participants introduced various kinds of trees in heath forest, peat forest, savanna, lowland forest in Indonesian as well as subtropical forest in Korea.
“We hope the students obtain course and field practices according to the current issues. In addition, the students can directly see the importance of confidence, foreign languages, network, and other characters that have to be prepared as early as possible in order to succeed in the future,” said the lecturer at Faculty of Forestry, Atus Syahbudin, S.Hut., M.Agr., Ph.D.
On the other hand, two keynote speakers from Environment and Forestry Research and Development Center of Banjarbaru, Marinus Kristiadi Harun, S.Hut., M.Si. and Donny Rahmanady, S.Hut., M.Si. delivered presentations regarding typical plants in deep peat forest as well as native species in heath forest and sour sulfate thin peat forest.
In addition, Marinus discussed an issue regarding acacia which grows in heath forest. According to Marinus, it is not supposed to grow in heath forest due to its unstable ecosystem with shallow organic materials. If it is wrongly managed, disaster may easily happen. The land will be difficult to recover and the water becomes sour.
“In the field, I find distortions which deviate from the theory where heath forest is utilized as transmigration residential or mining areas. Residential area is usually built along the riverside,” said Martinus.
Aside from the kinds of tree in South Kalimantan, the guest lecture also discussed sandalwood tree (Santalum album) and other typical plants in East Nusa Tenggara. According to Lenny Marlina Mooy, SP., MP. Who is a lecturer at State Agriculture Polytechnic (Indonesian acronym: POLITANI) in Kupang, water management and appropriate use are the most important things considering East Nusa Tenggara only has rainy season for 3 months.
As a comparison to other tropical forest which has biodiversity, Kim Hyun Joong, a student from Kwangwoon University, Korea, discussed various kinds of tree in subtropical forest. Joong who is currently attending a student exchange program at Faculty of Forestry UGM introduced palmatum maple (Acer palmatum) where the form and color of its leaves will change during fall season.