A phytosociological analysis of woody species in forest communities of a part of Kumaun Himalaya

Abstract

This paper reports on a detailed phytosociological analysis of forests in the NW catchment of the Gola River in Kumaun Himalaya,' E. Fourteen sites and 56 stands at elevations ranging from 1 200 to 2 523 m and covering the following five forest types were investigated: Pinus roxburghii, mixed, Quercus leucotrichophora, Q. lanuginosa, and Q. floribunda. The basal cover of the forests differed according to slope position and aspect. The three oak forests had more basal cover than the other two, and Q. lanuginosa had the most. The performance of individual tree and shrub species and the number of saplings and seedlings differed according to slope position and aspect. The mixed forest had the greatest tree diversity, and among the others diversity increased with increasing basal cover. The diversity of trees, saplings, and herb layer was greatest on aspects with intermediate temperature and moisture conditions; whereas that of shrubs and seedlings increased towards the cooler (and wetter) and warmer (and drier) exposures. There was a positive relation between the diversity of shrubs plus seedlings and trees plus saplings in P. roxburghii and mixed forests; whereas this relationship was inverse in the three oak forests. In general, the dominance-diversity curves for the tree layer followed a geometric series conforming to the niche pre-emption situation in communities of low diversity. Among the forests, the regeneration was best in Q. lanuginosa and worst in Q. leucotrichophora.

Structure, Composition and Diversity of Forest Along the Altitudinal Gradient in the Himalayas, Nepal

“…Here, the results derived from this study are compared and contrasted with the results found in similar kind of forests outside LNP. The vegetation zones in LNP showed average tree density ( ≥5 cm dbh) values from 460 to 865 per hectare which is consistent with the density values of 295 and 850 tree ha in Kumaun Himalaya (Saxena and Singh, 1982), and 990-1470 trees ha −1 in western Himalaya (Gairola et al, 2011) in 1200 to 2500 m asl range. In this study, the average height of tree species recorded was maximum in the Lower Subalpine zone (3000-3500 m asl).…”

Van Panchayats as an Effective Tool in Conserving Biodiversity at Local Level

“…Conversion of seedlings to saplings and saplings to trees of Quercus leucotrichophora was satisfactory indicating well regeneration pattern and effective forest management. It is interesting that the previous research on chirpine indicates that pine is good reproducer not only in its own forest but also in other forest [9] and the replacement of the oak forest by pine has become a common and everincreasing phenomenon [3], however from this study it is clear that if the forests are management properly the banj-oak will not disappear in near future. The total basal area of the present study for tree layer varied from 5.26 and 9.41 m 2 /ha.…”

“…Estimations also made by actual observations of the number of head loads removed daily, actual number of days in a year in which collection is done, number of hours and the frequency of collection by each family. Four aspects south west, east, north west, and north were identified with in each aspect trees were analysed by placing randomly 10,100 m 2 circular quadrats, the size and number of samples was determined following [9]. Sapling, seedling and shrub were studied in 10, 5 × 5 m 2 quardrats placed randomly.…”

Community Structure of Montane forest along the Altitudinal Gradient in Garhwal Himalaya, India

“…However, Mehta et al (1997) reported similarity of 9.6 (between burnt grazed and unburnt grazed sites) to 74.9% (between unburnt protected and unburnt grazed sites) for the various forest sites under different management regimes in Garhwal Himalaya. Wikum and Wali (1974) and Saxena and Singh (1982) have pointed out the significant role of the site characteristics in plant distribution and similarity. The values of diversity are presented in Table 5.…”