Vegetation structure, floristic composition and species diversity of woody plant communities in sub-tropical Kandi Siwaliks of Jammu, J & K, India

Abstract

The study was conducted on sub-tropical forest of districts Jammu and Samba of Jammu province of Jammu and Kashmir state, India with the objective of determining floristic composition, species diversity and structure of woody vegetation in drier Kandi Siwaliks. The forests of Kandi belt represent typical subtropical vegetation with distinct vertical zonation of three forest types i.e., Northern dry mixed deciduous forests (5B/C2), Himalayan subtropical scrub (9/C1/DSI) and Himalayan subtropical Pine forest (9/C1a) in an altitudinal range of 300 m asl to 990 m asl. The community analysis was performed using stratified random sampling involving 0.01 % of the total area for each community. Accordingly, 750 quadrats of 400 m 2 and 100 m 2 were laid for trees and shrubs respectively after attaining their species area curve. Various phytosociological parameters and diversity indices have been used to reveal the community structure, species richness, diversity and evenness for the phanerophytes in different forest types. A total of 112 species comprising 65 trees and 47 shrubs belonging to 92 genera and 48 families were recorded from the forest. The vegetation analysis revealed the dominance of Mallotus philippensis (SIV %, 6.4), Acacia modesta (10.44 %) and Pinus roxburghii (24.27%) as over storey elements in northern dry mixed deciduous forests, Himalayan subtropical scrub and Himalayan subtropical Pine forest respectively. The northern dry mixed deciduous forests occupying 27.3 % of the study area revealed maximum species richness and diversity as indicated by the higher values obtained for Shannon-Wienner's index and Simpson's index of dominance. Most of the forest landscapes are influenced by human disturbances and thus necessitates the need for immediate conservation action plan to ensure sustainable utilization and better management of forest.

Species diversity, population structure, and regeneration status of trees in Fakim Wildlife Sanctuary, Nagaland, Northeast India

“…Plant composition in a forest ecosystem is largely influenced by geographical location of the region, soil, climate, stand structure, tree diversity, and regeneration pattern of species (Sarkar andDevi 2014, Siregar et al 2019). Species diversity is an important component of the forest ecosystems as it reflects the overall health of forest, and provides useful information that serves as primary information for the conservation of tree species and habitats including other organisms of the forest ecosystems (Roy et al 2004, Sharma andKant 2014). Vegetation analysis of the forest ecosystem will help us to understand the population structure (Sahu et al 2019) and regeneration potential of the species which can be useful in forest management and species conservation (Borogayary et al 2017) and their economic valuation (Palit et al 2012).…”

“…Successful regeneration of species is one of the main driving forces to achieve future sustainability of the forest community (Saikia and Khan 2013). Regeneration status of a forest is determined by the density of seedling, sapling, and population of species in lower girth classes (Deb and Sundriyal 2011;Maua et al 2020). The higher density of seedlings and saplings, and the presence of young trees in lower girth class indicate a good regeneration status of forest whereas the absence of seedling results in no regeneration (Senbeta et al 2014;Pokhriyal et al 2010;Chaturvedi et al 2017;Sharma et al 2018).…”

Quantitative analysis, distributional pattern and species diversity of woody plant species of Lamberi Forest Range, Rajouri, J&K, India

“…Thus IVI of a species is a function of its abundance (the number of plants within the quadrats), its dominance (influence on the other species through its shading, competition, or aggressiveness) and its frequency (contribution to the community through its distribution) (Okiror et al, 2012). Pinus roxburghii has also been reported as the dominated tree species in the Rajouri district and other adjoining areas with similar conditions (Dangwal et al, 2012 ;Nizami et al, 2009;Shaheen et al, 2011;Muhammad et al, 2012 and while Carrisa opaca has been reported as most dominant (Shrub) species by Dangwal et al, (2012) and Sharma and Kant (2014) in block Nowshera of district Rajouri and Kandi Shivaliks of Jammu, respectively. Almost similar trend has been reported by Sharma (2003) and Sudan (2007) for Jammu district and Mahamaya catchment, respectively.…”

Forest communities and factors responsible for vegetation pattern in the legally protected areas of the Kashmir Himalaya, India

“…In addition to this, Qureshi and Bhatti (2010) reported a presence of 93 species from Pai forest region of Nawab Shah, in Sindh Pakistan. Sharma and Kant (2014) reported total of 112 species in Jammu hills, India.…”