BIODIVERSITAS ISSN: 1412-033X Volume 23, Number 12, December 2022 E-ISSN: 2085-4722 Pages: 6520-6529 DOI: 10.13057/biodiv/d231250 The ecology of suweg (Amorphophallus paeoniifolius) in the Citanduy and Cimanuk Watersheds, West Java, Indonesia ASEP ZAINAL MUTAQIN 1, , TEGUH HUSODO 1 , DWI RUSTAM KENDARTO 2 , INDRI WULANDARI 1 , SYA SYA SHANIDA 3 , ERRI NOVIAR MEGANTARA 1 , DENNY KURNIADIE 4 , JOHAN ISKANDAR 1 , MOHAMAD NURZAMAN 1 1 Department of Biology, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Padjadjaran. Jl. Raya Bandung-Sumedang Km 21, Jatinangor, Sumedang 45363, West Java, Indonesia. Tel./fax.: +62-22-7796412,  email: asep.zainal.mutaqin@unpad.ac.id 2 Study Program of Agricultural Engineering, Faculty of Agricultural Industrial Technology, Universitas Padjadjaran. Jl. Raya Bandung-Sumedang Km 21, Jatinangor, Sumedang 40600, West Java, Indonesia 3 Study Program of Environmental Science, Postgraduate School, Universitas Padjadjaran. Jl. Dipati Ukur No. 35, Bandung 40132, West Java, Indonesia 4 Study Program of Agrotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Padjadjaran. Jl. Raya Bandung-Sumedang Km 21, Jatinangor, Sumedang 45363, West Java, Indonesia Manuscript received: 14 October 2022. Revision accepted: 15 December 2022. Abstract. Mutaqin AZ, Husodo T, Kendarto DR, Wulandari I, Shanida SS, Megantara EN, Kurniadie D, Iskandar J, Nurzaman M. 2022. The ecology of suweg (Amorphophallus paeoniifolius) in the Citanduy and Cimanuk Watershed, West Java, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 23: 6520-6529. Suweg (Amorphophallus paeoniifolius (Dennst.) Nicolson) is one of the plants distributed in Indonesia, including in the Citanduy and Cimanuk Watershed. Amorphophallus grows in various land cover types. This species exhibits wide agroecological adaptation to dry and moist lands. Citanduy Watershed passes through the Leuwikeris Dam, and the Cimanuk watershed passes through the Kertajati International Airport. These projects can affect the condition of the surrounding environment, including biodiversity. This study was conducted to observe the distribution, population, and habitat characteristics of the suweg in the Citanduy and Cimanuk Watersheds. Exploratory surveys and intensive studies were applied in this study. An exploratory survey was conducted randomly through direct observation. An intensive study was carried out to determine the ecological description of suweg in several areas, namely Kuta Subvillage, Ciangir Subvillage, and Pasiripis Village, with existing projects, still have strong local cultures, and the discovery of suweg growing. Suweg is growing in several sites, including the Citanduy and Cimanuk Watersheds, with certain elevations and environmental conditions. The Summed Dominant Ratio (SDR) of suweg in Kuta Subvillage, Ciangir Subvillage, and Pasiripis Village in the home garden and garden, respectively, are 8.50 and 13.77; 10.07 and 19.25; and 0 and 22.92, which indicate the population or density of suweg is low. The abiotic and biotic environmental parameters observed at each site varied. Keywords: Amorphophallus paeoniifolius, Cimanuk and Citanduy Watersheds INTRODUCTION There are many species of plants on the earth's surface. In general, plants are grouped into marine and terrestrial flora in Indonesia. The marine flora includes species of seagrass and mangroves. Terrestrial flora plants reproduce by spores which are popularly known as Cryptogamae. Plants reproduce by seeds which are popularly known as Spermatophyta/ Phanerogamae. Specifically related to the number of plant species, Indonesia occupies the top five positions in the world. Of these species, 55% are endemic plants (Ministry of Environment and Forestry of Indonesia, 2014). The plants live in various ecosystems. Ahad and Ferdous (2019) informed that the ecosystem is the biological community in an area and all of the abiotic factors influencing that community; here, a biotic community and its abiotic environment function as a system. Plants interact with ecosystem components and other environmental factors in an ecosystem. Apart from being influenced by internal factors, the growth or distribution of plants is also influenced by certain external or environmental factors, known as the habitat. Taylor et al. (2018) define habitat as a place where an organism lives, an ecological situation in which an organism lives. Hickman et al. (2012) informed the definition of habitat as the place where an organism usually lives or where individuals of a population live. Environmental factors that affect the plants' growth or distribution, either directly or indirectly, are biotic and abiotic. The biotic environmental factors are certain species of organisms (Wisz et al. 2013), including humans (Truyen 2015). Meanwhile, the abiotic factors include land use (Chauvier et al. 2021); soil pH, soil moisture, soil organic matter (Hafsah et al. 2018); soil nutrients (Wicaksono et al. 2010); elevation (Bin Yusof et al. 2013; Ortiz et al. 2019); light intensity; humidity (Barrancos et al. 2019); temperature (Lewu et al. 2017); precipitation (Lopes et al. 2016); and seasons (Sungkajanttranon et al. 2018). A watershed is a landscape consisting of various types of ecosystems. Along the watershed, plants grow either wild in the natural ecosystems or cultivated in the artificial ecosystems. A watershed is a complex unit involving many biophysical, social, economic, and cultural aspects.