Above-ground biomass estimation in ten tropical dry evergreen forest sites of peninsular India

Tree Diversity Changes over a Decade (2003-2013) in Four Inland Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest Sites on the Coromandel Coast of India

“…The storage of carbon in a forest is related to multiple reasons including climate, soils structure, nutrient availability and disturbance, and many sites also reported a high correlation of biomass with dbh (Brown et al 1989;Cairns et al 2003;Kale et al 2004;Ketterings et al 2001;Lodhiyal and Lodhiyal 2003;Saldarriaga et al 1988;Telenius and Verwijst 1999;Mani and Parthasarathy 2009) and also the present study revealed a high r 2 value. According to Baker et al (Lewis et al 2009).…”

“…Bhat et al (2000) also found decreased basal area with increasing human disturbance in tropical forests of Western Ghats, India. Baithalu et al (2013) and Mani and Parthasarathy (2009) also reported that the basal area decreased in other tropical dry evergreen forest sites AK and TM with increasing disturbance, while Hitimana et al (2004) reported that the basal area in larger diameter classes has become reduced in western Kenya. In contrast, basal area of trees increased due to the less disturbed condition of sites MM and KR.…”

“…Cutting of a greater number of lower-girthed trees indicates that local people frequently need them in bulk quantity. Baithalu et al (2013) and Mani and Parthasarathy (2009) also reported substantial reduction in the lower girth trees in coastal tropical dry evergreen forest sites and so also many studies have reported a decline in small stems over a time in other tropical forests of the world (Primack and Hall 1992;Newbery et al1999;Janzen 1970;Clark and Clark 1984;Connell et al 1984). Several studies have reported dependency of rural population on forest for meeting their biomass requirement such as fuel wood, fodder, fencing poles and small timber for agricultural implements etc., leading to forest degradation (Singhal et al 2003;Arjunan et al 2005;Chandrashekara et al 2005;Davidar et al 2007;Bhat and Ravindranath 2011).…”

“…Reduction in stem density can be attributed to removal of stems, browsing and trampling by livestock and human pressure including land use change such as expanding agriculture, village temple construction, and human settlement close to forests. The coastal tropical dry evergreen sites also showed sharp reductions in stem density over decades (Baithalu et al 2012, 2013and Mani and Parthasarathy 2009). Felfili (1995 reported a reduction of 2% in density over a six-year period in the gallery forest of central Brazil.…”

“…Various anthropogenic pressures due to developmental activities, deforestation, exploitation of forest resources and increase in human population have threatened many sacred groves. In last two decades many studies have been conducted on biodiversity and ecology of TDEF sites but long-term studies are very few (Baithalu et al 2012(Baithalu et al , 2013Mani and Parthasarathy 2009;Parthasarathy and Venkateswaran 2005) as compared to biodiversity assessment. The main objectives of the pres- ent study are to determine changes in tree population and tree AGB in four inland tropical dry evergreen forest sites on the Coromandel Coast of India, a decade after the initial inventory.…”