Vegetation structure and floristic composition of a tropical dry deciduous forest in Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary, Karnataka, India

Krishnamurthy, YL and Prakasha, HM and Nanda, A and Krishnappa, M and Dattaraja, HS and Suresh, HS (2010) Vegetation structure and floristic composition of a tropical dry deciduous forest in Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary, Karnataka, India. In: Tropical Ecology, 51 (2). pp. 235-246.

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Abstract

A permanent 2 ha (200 m x 100 m) plot was established for long-term monitoring of plant diversity and dynamics in a tropical dry deciduous forest of Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary, Karnataka, southern India. Enumeration of all woody plants >= 1 cm DBH (diameter at breast height) yielded a total of 1766 individuals that belonged to 46 species, 37 genera and 24 families. Combretaceae was the most abundant family in the forest with a family importance value of 68.3. Plant density varied from 20 - 90 individuals with an average 35 individuals/quadrat (20 m x 20 m). Randia dumetorum, with 466 individuals (representing 26.7 % of the total density 2 ha(-1)) with species importance value of 36.25, was the dominant species in the plot. The total basal area of the plot was 18.09 m(2) ha(-1) with a mean of 0.72 m(2) quadrat(-1). The highest basal area of the plot was contributed by Combretaceae (12.93 m(2) 2 ha(-1)) at family level and Terminalia tomentosa (5.58 m(2) 2 ha(-1)) at species level. The lowest diameter class (1-10 cm) had the highest density (1054 individuals 2 ha(-1)), but basal area was highest in the 80 - 90 cm diameter class (5.03m(2) 2 ha(-1)). Most of the species exhibited random or aggregated distribution over the plot. This study provides a baseline information on the dry forests of Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	Tropical Ecology
Publisher:	Ins SocTropical Ecology
Additional Information:	Copyright of this article belongs to Ins SocTropical Ecology.
Keywords:	Dispersion pattern;diversity;dry deciduous forest;long-term monitoring;permanent plot;species richness
Department/Centre:	Division of Biological Sciences > Centre for Ecological Sciences
Date Deposited:	09 Jun 2010 07:09
Last Modified:	19 Sep 2010 05:59
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/26987

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