Modeling understory shrub diversity related to environmental gradients using Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) in an urban forest in Jakarta, Indonesia

Abstract. Kirana GR, Wibowo AA, Nurdin E, Wardhana W, Basukriadi A. 2023. Modeling understory shrub diversity related to environmental gradients using Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) in an urban forest in Jakarta, Indonesia. Asian J For 7: 74-80. The urban forest is one form of human-made ecosystem in urban environments. One of the most important components of urban forest ecosystem is understory shrubs. The sustainability of understory shrub community is supported by environmental variables suitable to its growth. Nonetheless, there has been limited information on how environmental variables contribute to the presence of shrubs in particular urban settings. This study aims to model the relationships between understory shrub diversity and environmental covariates, including air temperature, humidity, light intensity and wind speed, using the Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) in Srengseng Urban Forest, Jakarta, Indonesia. The result showed that there were 20 species and 12 families with the most common shrub species being Rivina humilis, followed by Acalypha siamensis, Cordyline fruticosa, Syzigium paniculatum and Caesalpinia pulcherrima. The average Shannon-Wiener diversity index was 0.671 (95% CI: 0.441, 0.901). The AIC models showed that understory shrub diversity was negatively correlated with humidity and positively correlated with light gradients with AIC values of 38.696 and 41.679, respectively. The diversity of understory shrubs in urban forests was significantly supported by sufficient light intensity (R2 = 0.29) and limited by an increase in air humidity (R2 = -0.44). The humidity and light intensity combinations also affect the understory shrub diversity (AIC = 38.900, R2 = 0.256). The results of these studies can help urban forest managers manage urban forests if aiming for biodiversity conservation, especially understory shrub species.