Assessment of Plant Diversity and Prioritization of Communities for Conservation in Mornaula Reserve Forest

Abstract

Abstract. Assessment of plant diversity of the Reserve Forests of the west Himalaya and prioritization of communities for conservation have not been given much attention. Therefore, the study has been conducted in a biodiversity rich Mornaula Reserve Forest between 1500-2200m to analyse the structure, composition of the forest communities including richness of economically important, native, endemic and rare-endangered species, and prioritize communities for conservation. A total of 123 sites were sampled. For each site, habitat characteristics, altitude and dominant species have been given. From the sampled sites, 289 species (37 trees; 37 shrubs; and 215 herbs) and 31 forest communities have been recorded. These recorded values were almost comparable with the studies conducted in sub-tropical, temperate and sub-alpine regions of the west Himalaya. In some cases the values were slightly higher than the reported values. The communities have been prioritized for conservation based on the species richness, nativity, endemism, economically important and rare-endangered species. Among, all the prioritized communities, Rhododendron arboreum community supports maximum species including native, endemic, economically important and rareendangered species. In view of the high socio-economic and conservation values of the identified communities, monitoring of these communities at least for a period of five years and development of appropriate strategy and action plan for the conservation and management have been suggested.

Phytosociological Analysis of Woody Species in Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary and Its Adjoining Areas in Western Himalaya, India

“…These values of density are within the earlier values reported by various authors like Pant and Samant (2007);Semwal et al (2010), Gairola et al (2011);Raturi (2012) and Bhat (2012). Shrub density varied from 4,730±474 to 9,530±700 ind/ha.…”

“…Shrub density varied from 4,730±474 to 9,530±700 ind/ha. Pant and Samant (2007) reported shrub density ranging from 704 to 11,056/ha. Gairola et al (2011) reported shrub density ranging from 6639-24853/ha from different moist temperate forests of Garhwal Himalaya.…”

Regeneration status of woody species in a protected area of Western Himalaya

“…Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary (KWLS) was established in 1972 and is famous for the endangered Musk Deer. The KWLS is one of the largest protected areas (975 km 2 ) in the Western Himalaya located in ChamoliRudraprayag districts (25,293.70 ha in Chamoli district and 72,224.10 ha in Rudraprayag district) of Uttarakhand and falls under the IUCN management Category IV (Managed Nature Reserve) in the Biogeographical Province 2.38.12 of Himalayan highlands. The sanctuary lies in the upper catchment of the Alaknanda and Mandakini Rivers, which are major tributaries of Ganges.…”

Effect of Forest Coffee Management Practices on Woody Species Diversity and Composition in Bale Eco-Region, Southeastern Ethiopia

“…This may affects diversity of woody plant species to the extinction and challenges sustainable management of resources in the forest coffee. The loss of biodiversity and the changing pattern of woody species have necessitated the assessment of woody species diversity (Pant & Samant, 2007;Tolera et al, 2008;Mebrat & Gashaw, 2013).…”