International Journal of Ecology and Environmental Sciences
Tree species diversity and population structure in Tropical dry deciduous forest of Sri Lankamalleswara Wildlife Sanctuary, Southern Eastern Ghats, India.
Abstract
Tree species enumeration was carried out in dry deciduous forests of Sri Lankamalleswara wildlife sanctuary by laying 25 quadrats of 20 X 20m size each at five varied elevation ranges totaling to 5-ha. A total of 3856 tree individuals (≥ 30cm gbh) belonging to 127 tree species, 95 genera and 42 families were recorded. The mean tree species was 73 species/ha and mean tree density was 771±157 individuals/ha. The observed Shannon-weiner index was 3.99 and the mean basal area recorded in the forest stand was 22.9±2.4m2ha-1. The rank abundance curve revealed that these dry deciduous forests were dominated by few tree species as four tree species namely Pterocarpus santalinus, Anogeissus latifolia, Chloroxylon swietenia and Terminalia alata comprised of 36% of total density and 29.6% of total IVI and top ten dominant species comprised of 47.7% of total tree density, 46% of total basal area and 41.1% of IVI. The Spearman rank correlation revealed a significant positive relationship between altitude and tree density and significant negative relation with Shannon Weiner index. The frequency of tree individuals with increasing gbh classes revealed a reverse ‘J’ shaped curve and majority of tree individuals (57.5%) were recorded in lower gbh class. In regard to increase in altitude, Anogeissus latifolia is the dominant tree in the foot hills with co-dominants like Pterocarpus santalinus-Chloroxylon swietenia- Dalbergia paniculata-Polyalthia cerassoides and in middle elevation the dominant tree is Pterocarpus santalinus featuring with co-dominants like Chloroxylon swietenia- Anogeissus latifolia- Buchanania axillaris and on the top hills the Pterocarpus santalinus stood as the dominant tree along with co-dominants like Terminalia alata- Anogeissus latifolia.
Key Words Dry deciduous forest, population structure, southern Eastern Ghats, tree diversity, Wildlife sanctuary
Keywords
References
References
Aye YY, Pampasit S, Umponstira C, Thanacharoenchanaphas K andSasakiN 2014. Floristic Composition, Diversity and Stand Structure of Tropical Forests in Popa Mountain Park. Journal of Environmental Protection 5: 1588-1602.
Baboo B,.SagarR, BargaliSSand Verma. H 2017. Tree species composition, regeneration and diversity of an Indian dry tropical forest protected area. Tropical Ecology 58: 409-423.
Curtis JT and McIntoshRP 1951. An Upland Forest Continuum in the Prairie-Forest Border Region of Wisconsin. Ecology31: 476-496.
Giriraj A, Murthy MSRand RameshBR 2008. Vegetation Composition, Structure and Patterns of Diversity, A Case Study from the Tropical Wet Evergreen Forests of the Western Ghats, India. Edinburgh Journal of Botany65: 447-468.
Magurran AE 2004.Measuring Biological Diversity.Blackwell Publishing,Oxford, U.K.
Mani S andParthasarathyN 2006. Tree diversity and stand structure in inland and coastal tropical dry ever green forests of Peninsular India. Current Science90: 1238-1246.
Panda PC, MahapatraAK, Acharya PKand DebataAK 2013. Plant Diversity in Tropical Deciduous Forests of Eastern Ghats, India : A Landscape Level Assessment. International Journal of Biodiversity and Conservation5: 625-639.
Pragasan AL andParthasarathyN 2010. Landscape-level tree diversity assessment in tropical forests of southern Eastern Ghats, India. Flora 205: 728-737.
Rawat SG 1997. Conservation status of forest and Wildlife in the Eastern Ghats India. Environmental Conservation24: 307-315.
Ramana CV, Reddy MS. 2020. Assessment of Tree Population Structureand Diversity Along Disturbance Gradientin Tropical Dry Deciduous Forests, Southern─Eastern Ghats, India. Environment and Ecology 38 (4) : 882—893.
Reddy CS, BabarS, Amarnath G and PattanaikC 2011. Structure and Floristic Composition of Tree Stand in Tropical Forest in the Eastern Ghats of Northern Andhra Pradesh, India. Journal of Forestry Research22: 491-500.
Sagar R,RaghubanshiAS and SinghJS 2003. Tree species composition, dispersion and diversity along a disturbance gradient in a dry tropical forest region of India. Forest Ecology and Management186: 61-71.
Sarker SK, RashidS, SharminM, HaqueMM, SonetSSandNur-un-nabiM 2014.Environmental correlates of vegetation distribution in tropical Juriforest, Bangladesh. Tropical Ecology 55: 177-193.
Sharma N and KalaCP 2018. Patterns in Distribution, Population Density and Uses of Medicinal Plants along the Altitudinal Gradient in Dhauladhar Mountain Range of Indian Himalayas. Current Science114: 2323-2328.
Singh JS and KushwahaSPS 2008. Forest biodiversity and its conservation in India. International Forestry Review10: 292-304.
Singh P, KarthigeyanK, LakshminarasimhanPand DashSS 2015. Endemic Vascular Plants of India. Botanical Survey of India. Kolkata, India.
Yadav AS and GuptaSK 2006. Effect of micro-environment and human disturbance on the diversity of woody species in the Sariska Tiger Project in India. Forest Ecology and Management225: 178–89.
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
COPYRIGHT of this Journal vests fully with the National Instional Institute of Ecology. Any commercial use of the content on this site in any form is legally prohibited.