Altitudinal Variation in Species Composition and Soil Properties of Banj Oak and Chir Pine Dominated Forests

Abstract

The study was carried out in two different forest types viz., Banj oak and Chir pine forests to assess the variation in forest species composition and soil properties along altitudinal gradients in the Garhwal Himalayas. The results of the study showed that between the forests soil moisture was higher in Banj oak forest because of closed canopy and dense forest compared to Chir pine forest. The sand particles were reported higher in Banj oak forest which might be due to the addition of organic matter favouring coarse structure of soil, helping in holding maximum water in soils. However in the Chir pine forest low amount of soil organic matter and presence of clayey soil, develops soil compactness which reduces the penetration of water resulting in high soil bulk density. The higher accumulation of litter and presence of moisture in Banj oak forest favours higher nutrient level of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium compared to Chir pine forest. The soil organic carbon also reduced with increasing altitude at both gradients. While bulk density has reverse trend with soil organic carbon in both the forests at different peaks of same region. In Banj oak forest, the highest density and total basal cover was reported 1,100 tree ha -1 and 58.86 m 2 ha -1 respectively. However, the highest values of density and total basal cover of Chir pine forest was 560 tree ha -1 and 56.94 m 2 ha -1 respectively.The total density and basal cover of both the forests reduced with increasing altitude. The study concludes that Banj oak forest has better nutrient cycling ability, well developed forest floor and has a greater protective and productive features compared to the Chir pine forest which is without lower vegetation cover and having only pine litter accumulation which does not allow any other species to grow.

Physico-chemical characterization of Oak, Pine and Sal forest soil profiles of Betalghat Region of Kumaun Himalaya

“…As per Champion and Seth (1968) it is one of the dominant tree species in the tropical moist as well as dry deciduous forests in India. Some previous studies about physico-chemical characterization of soil were also done by researchers in various forests of Kumaun and Garhwal Himalaya (Joshi and Negi, 2015;Khera et al, 2001;Singh et al, 2009;Semwal et al, 2009;Sharma et al, 2010;Jina et al, 2011;Gairola et al, 2012;Kumar et al, 2013;Joshi, et al, 2013;Mehta et al, 2014;Upreti et al, 2016;Tewari et al, 2016;Bharti, et al, 2016). Present study is focused on the comparison of soil physico-chemical profiling of three different forest types (Oak, Pine and Sal) of Betalghat region of Kumaun Himalaya, Uttarakhand.…”

Soil organic carbon estimation along an altitudinal gradient of chir pine forests in the Garhwal Himalaya, India: A field inventory to remote sensing approach

“…The distribution of SOC in the soil profile is determined by the biotic factors (abundance and vigour of faunal, microbial, and plant species) (Kumar, Kumar, pandey et al, 2021; Lorenz & Lal, 2005) and environmental factors (temperature, moisture) (Lorenz & Lal, 2005). The decreasing SOC stock in soil profile with increasing soil depth in the present study may be attributed to variations in C inputs in terms of plant residues (Kumar et al, 2013). The higher SOC at soil surface (0–30 cm) depth was due to the contribution of abundant aboveground litter and fine root nearby the surface soil due to shallower rooting systems of conifers (Jandl et al, 2007), while at deep soil depth, the contribution of SOC was only due to root exfoliation and exudates (Kumar, Kumar, pandey et al, 2021).…”