Effects of population density on forest structure and species richness and diversity of trees in Kampong Thom Province, Cambodia

Abstract

This study examined differences in stand structure, tree species richness, and tree species diversity in relation to population density in Kampong Thom Province, Cambodia. Tree data were obtained from a 1997 forest inventory involving 60 clusters (540 plots) systematically distributed over 30% of the provincial forest area. Spatially referenced population data were obtained from the 1998 national population census. The average number of trees per cluster was 356/ha, the average basal area, 23 m 2 /ha, the average stand volume, 217 m 3 /ha, and the average aboveground biomass, 273 Mg/ha for all trees of DBH 10 cm and larger. The average species richness per cluster was 37 species, while average species diversity was measured as 0.916 using Simpson's index and 2.98 by Shannon's index. Significant negative correlations were generally found between population density surrounding clusters and tree density, basal area, stand volume, aboveground biomass, and species richness and diversity for three examined diameter classes (DBH of 10-30, C30, and C10 cm). As the distance from clusters for calculating population density increased, the correlation levels increased up to 5 or 7 km, depending on the variables and diameter class, and then stayed relatively constant for stand structure variables and decreased for species richness and diversity. The results indicate that evidence of disturbance was more pronounced at higher population density up to around 5 to 7 km. We suggest that introduction of greater controls on human disturbance should be a high priority for resource management and conservation in Kampong Thom Province and, presumably, Cambodia as a whole.

Comparison of Wood Density and Water Content Between Dry Evergreen and Dry Deciduous Forest Trees in Central Cambodia

“…In total, 71 tree individuals representing 53 species of 27 families from DEF and 116 tree individuals representing 54 species of 22 families from DDF were collected (Appendixes 1 & 2). Most collected species were common tree species, which covered dominant canopy species, in DEF and DDF in Kampong Thom and Kratie Provinces (Tagane et al 2015, Top et al 2009, Toyama et al 2013. The nomenclature was checked in The Plant List, version 1.1 (http://www.theplantlist.org/).…”

Phytosociological Status of a Monotypic Genus Indopiptadenia: A Near Threatened Tree from the Terai-Bhabar Region of Central Himalaya

“…Without the basic understanding about the structure of a community, it is impossible to know its functioning. Thus a lot of phytosociological studies have been conducted throughout the world to understand the structure of different forest communities (Campbell et al, 1986;Timilsina et al, 2007;Top et al, 2009;Sambare et al, 2011;Erenso et al, 2014). In Indian scenario, several phytosociological studies have also been performed in different tropical forests: Western India (Sharma and Upadhyaya, 2002;Panchal and Pandey, 2004;Krishna et al, 2014), Peninsular India (Parthasarathy et al, 1992;Visalakshi, 1995;Parthasarathy, 1999;Mani and Parthasarathy, 2005;Gunaga et al, 2013), North East India (Bhuyan et al, 2003;Kumar et al, 2006;Kibria and Saha, 2011;Sarkar and Devi, 2014) and Northern India (Singh and Singh, 1991;Sagar et al, 2003;Pandey and Shukla, 2003;Chauhan et al, 2008;Tripathi and Singh, 2009;Behera et al, 2012).…”

Population Structure and Curative Uses of Invasive Plants in and around the Protected Forests of Bangladesh: A Means of Utilization of Potential Invasive Species

“…The calculated value of evenness index that are almost similar for each category and index of dominance of the study areas revealed that the total number of individuals are more evenly distributed among all species present at the two study sites. Rahman et al [91], Rahman et al [92], and Top et al [93] believed that the higher the value of diversity, the greater the stability of community will be.…”