JOURNAL OF DEGRADED AND MINING LANDS MANAGEMENT ISSN: 2339-076X (p); 2502-2458 (e), Volume 8, Number 1 (October 2020): 2461-2469 DOI:10.15243/jdmlm.2020.081.2461 www.jdmlm.ub.ac.id 2461 Research Article Productivity evaluation of Eucalyptus urophylla plantation established in dryland ecosystems, East Nusa Tenggara Ronggo Sadono 1 , Wahyu Wardhana 1 , Pandu Yudha Adi Putra Wirabuana 1* , Fahmi Idris 2 1 Department of Forest Management, Faculty of Forestry, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Bulaksumur Yogyakarta 55281, Indonesia 2 Department of Research and Development, Trofsit Institute, Jl. Kaliurang Km 16 Yogyakarta 55281, Indonesia * corresponding author: pandu.yudha.a.p@ugm.ac.id Received 20 July 2020, Accepted 26 August 2020 Abstract: The establishment of the Eucalyptus urophylla plantation has a potential contribution to the improvement of dryland ecosystem productivity in East Nusa Tenggara. However, the productivity of E. urophylla stand in this area is rarely documented even though it has been managed for more than 20 years. This study was directed to evaluate the growth performance, biomass accumulation, and carbon storage in E. urophylla plantation managed by Timor Tengah Selatan Forest Management Unit (FMU). Data were collected by a field survey using N-trees sampling method. Results demonstrated the mean tree density of E. urophylla in this area was 182 trees/ha with an average stand volume of 150.12 m 3 /ha. The mean annual increment in volume varied from 1.83 to 19.45 m 3 /year. The mean biomass accumulation and carbon storage in E. urophylla plantation approached 171.76 and 52.25 Mg/ha. Around 65% of total biomass and carbon storage were accumulated in the stem. Interestingly, the relative contribution of the stem to total biomass increased slowly with diameter class increasing while the dissimilar trend was observed in root, branch, and foliage. Based on the results, this study confirmed that the existence of E. urophylla plantation could increase the productivity of dryland ecosystem in East Nusa Tenggara. Keywords: biomass accumulation, carbon, Eucalyptus urophylla, growth performance, N-trees sampling To cite this article: Sadono, R., Wardhana, W., Wirabuana, P.Y.A.P. and Idris, F. 2020. Productivity evaluation of Eucalyptus urophylla plantation established in dryland ecosystems, East Nusa Tenggara. J. Degrade. Min. Land Manage. 8(1): 2461-2469, DOI: 10.15243/jdmlm. 2020.081.2461. Introduction Eucalyptus urophylla S.T. Blake is an indigenous species from Indonesia which naturally distributes in East Nusa Tenggara and Maluku (Sumardi et al., 2016). It has rapid growth, straight stem, and dense canopy like other eucalyptus families such as E. pellita, E. alba, E. grandis, etc. (Wirabuana et al., 2020). Furthermore, this species also has high adaptability to the various environmental gradient (Saadaoui et al., 2017). Several studies confirm E. urophylla can grow well in dry and wet condition with altitude ranged from 100 to 2,000 m above sea level (Morris et al., 2004; Zhang et al., 2015; Sumardi et al., 2016; Zhang et al. 2016). Another study also reports that E. urophylla can survive in the variety of soil condition such as acid soil and alkaline soil (Yang et al., 2015). Interestingly, E. urophylla has been managed intensively as the main species of plantation forest in several countries, such as Vietnam, China, and Brazil (Du et al., 2015; Van Bich et al., 2019; Viera and Rodríguez-Soalleiro, 2019). This plant is selected because it has high economic value and can be harvested in short rotation (Ferreira et al., 2017). Some literature notes the optimum rotation of E. urophylla used in a plantation forest ranges from 5 to 8 years depending on the management objective and site quality (Imana-Encinas et al., 2011; Carneiro et al., 2014; Zhou et al., 2017).