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VEGETATION COMPOSITION, STRUCTURE AND PATTERNS OF DIVERSITY: A CASE STUDY FROM THE TROPICAL WET EVERGREEN FORESTS OF THE WESTERN GHATS, INDIA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 November 2008

A. Giriraj ,
M. S. R. Murthy  and
B. R. Ramesh
A. Giriraj
Affiliation:
Forestry and Ecology Division, National Remote Sensing Agency, Balanagar, Hyderabad 500 037, India. E-mail for correspondence: [email protected] Present address: Department of Biogeography, Universität Bayreuth, Bayreuth 95440, Germany.
M. S. R. Murthy
Affiliation:
Forestry and Ecology Division, National Remote Sensing Agency, Balanagar, Hyderabad 500 037, India. E-mail for correspondence: [email protected]
B. R. Ramesh
Affiliation:
Department of Botany, French Institute of Pondicherry, 11 St. Louis Street, P.B. 33, Pondicherry 605 001, India.
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Abstract

The composition, abundance, population structure and distribution patterns of the woody species having a girth at breast height of ≥ 10 cm were investigated in the tropical wet evergreen forests of the Kalakad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve in the southern Western Ghats, India. A 3 ha plot was established with an altitudinal range of 1170 to 1306 m. In the study plot 5624 individuals (mean density 1875 ha−1) covering 68 woody species belonging to 52 genera and 27 families were enumerated. The mean basal area was 47.01 m2 ha–1 and the Shannon and Simpson diversity indices were 4.89 and 0.95, respectively. Of these woody species nearly 51% are endemic to the Western Ghats. The four dominant species, Cullenia exarillata, Palaquium ellipticum, Aglaia bourdillonii and Myristica dactyloides, account for 34% of the trees and 67% of the basal area, and therefore constitute the main structure of the forest. Within this forest type, five species assemblages corresponding to altitudinal gradient were identified using correspondence analysis. Management of such mid elevation evergreen forests necessarily depends on knowledge of recognisable community types and their environmental variables. The present study provides essential background for formulating strategies for sustainable conservation of forest communities at the local level.

Keywords

Correspondence analysisspecies diversitystand structuretropical forestWestern Ghats
Type
Articles
Information
Edinburgh Journal of Botany , Volume 65 , Issue 3 , November 2008 , pp. 447 - 468
Copyright
Copyright © Trustees of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh 2008

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