Electronic Theses and Dissertation

Insekta aerial berperan dalam menjaga keseimbangan ekosistem melalui fungsi ekologis seperti penyerbukan, predasi, dan dekomposisi. Namun, perubahan penggunaan lahan akibat ekspansi perkebunan berpotensi memengaruhi keanekaragaman dan fungsi ekologis insekta. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengkaji keanekaragaman, kekayaan, dan kemerataan spesies insekta aerial, mengidentifikasi peran ekologinya, serta menganalisis pengaruh komposisi lanskap terhadap kehadirannya di berbagai tipe ekosistem di Kabupaten Aceh Utara, yaitu hutan alami, perkebunan karet, pinang, dan kelapa sawit. Penelitian menggunakan pendekatan kuantitatif melalui survei lapangan dengan perangkap yellow pan trap dan yellow sticky trap. Analisis dilakukan menggunakan indeks Shannon-Wiener, Margalef, dan Pielou, serta Generalized Linear Model (GLM) dengan distribusi quasipoisson. Hasil identifikasi menunjukkan bahwa insekta aerial yang ditemukan terdiri dari 191 spesies, yang tergolong dalam 11 ordo, 101 familia, dan 191 genus. Keanekaragaman insekta aerial di hutan alami tergolong tinggi, kekayaan tinggi dan kemerataan merata. Sementara perkebunan karet, pinang, dan kelapa sawit keanekaragaman sedang, kekayaan tinggi, serta kemerataan merata namun lebih rendah dibandingkan hutan alami. Empat peran ekologi insekta teridentifikasi yakni sebagai polinator, predator, fitofag, dan detritivor. Analisis GLM menunjukkan bahwa hanya luas habitat alami (CA.nat) yang berpengaruh signifikan terhadap jumlah individu insekta aerial (P = 0.011). Temuan ini menegaskan pentingnya pelestarian habitat alami dalam lanskap pertanian untuk mendukung keberlanjutan komunitas insekta.
Kata kunci: Keanekatragaman Spesies, Peran Ekologi, Komposisi Lanskap.

Aerial insects play an important role in maintaining ecosystem balance through ecological functions such as pollination, predation, and decomposition. However, land-use changes resulting from plantation expansion can affect insect diversity and their ecological functions. This study aimed to examine the diversity, species richness, and evenness of aerial insects; identify their ecological roles; and analyze the influence of landscape composition on their presence across different ecosystem types in North Aceh Regency, namely natural forest, rubber plantation, areca nut plantation, and oil palm plantation. A quantitative approach was used through field surveys with yellow pan traps and yellow sticky traps. Data were analyzed using the Shannon-Wiener, Margalef, and Pielou indices, as well as a Generalized Linear Model (GLM) with a quasipoisson distribution. The identification results showed that the aerial insects found consisted of 191 species, which belonged to 11 orders, 101 families, and 191 genus. The diversity of aerial insects in natural forests is high, richness is high and evenness is even. Meanwhile, rubber, areca nut and oil palm plantations had moderate diversity, high richness and even distribution but were lower than natural forests. Four ecological roles of insects were identified as pollinators, predators, phytophages, and detritivores. GLM analysis showed that only natural habitat area (CA.nat) had a significant effect on the number of aerial insect individuals (P = 0.011). This finding confirms the importance of preserving natural habitats in agricultural landscapes to support the sustainability of insect communities. Keywords: Species Diversity, Ecological Function, Landscape Composition.