GRAZING HABITAT OF RUSA TIMOR (Cervus timorensis) AT THE NATURAL PASTURE OF THE UPLAND KEBAR

Abstract

Approximately one quarter of the Earth’s land surface is grassland where
livestock and wildlife, in tum, depend on for nutrition and shelter. This study aimed to analyze the potency of the grassland community at the upland Kebar as grazing habitat of the Rusa Timor (Cervus timorensis) in Papua. Research was conducted during the dry season in approximately 375 ha of sampling area. Quantitative estimation of forage production carried out by measuring a biomass harvest in fresh weight bases. All vegetation was recorded, collected by clipping to the ground about 6-7 cm in height, and separated and weighed based on plant species. Importance value, relative frequency, relative dominance of each species was computed to obtained the most dominant species within the study site. Eleven grass species and five legume species were identified. Among the eleven grass species, five were found eaten by the deer: Imperata cylindrica, Paspalum corjugatum, Themeda arguens, Melinis minutzflara, and Cyperus ratundus. The most preferred species were T. arguens, M minutzflara, C. rotundus and I. cylindrica. Four species considered to be the most dominant species in the study site were I. cylindrica (55.74%), P. ConjugaZum (22.l8%), E. brownii (9.37%), and T. arguens (8.94%). The productivity of grassland was 30.36kg/ha fresh weight. It was encountered during the study that the native grassland communities has been lost because they are being converted to the provincial highway construction.