Community structure and diversity of natural forest along altitudinal gradient and aspects in western Himalaya
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In this present study, we aimed to determine the plant diversity and floristic composition in temperate natural forest of western Himalaya. We selected three altitude range viz., lower, middle and higher altitudinal range on four aspects viz., northern, southern, western and eastern. Oak is the dominant tree species followed by pine in the case of tree species at the study site. Berberis aristata and Sarcococca saligna were dominant shrub species which belong to berberidaceae and buxaceae families. In the case of herb species, Cyperus rotundas and Viola serpens were most dominant herb species which belong to cyperaceae and violaceae families whereas, Arisaema sp. was inferior herb species which belong to araceae family. Higher number of tree and shrub species were observed at lower altitudinal range on western aspect and southern aspect whereas, least number of tree and shrub species were observed at higher altitudinal range on eastern aspect but in the herb species, maximum number were recorded at higher altitudinal range on northern aspect and minimum at lower altitudinal range on eastern aspect. In vegetation indices, tree species diversity ranged from 0.47 to 1.28, simpson’s dominace between 0.51 to .021 and species richness from 1.08 to 0.35 and shrub species diversity ranged between 2.09 to 1.40, simpson’s dominace from 0.98 to 057 and species richness ranged from 2.28 to 1.11. In herbaceous, species diversity ranged from 2.45 to 1.66, simpson’s dominace from 093 to 0.51 and species richness between 2.59 to 1.34. A pattern of tree and shrub species reduced with increasing altitude on all aspect but herb species increased with increasing altitude with all aspects. However, tree and shrub species showed similar trend but herb species showed reversed pattern to the tree and shrub species.Cite
Changes in tree species composition with elevation have been studied at three distinct altitudinal ranges on the basis of dominance, in sub-tropical and temperate forests on south slopes of Phulchoki hill, central part of lower Himalaya, Nepal. The greatest number of tree species was found in the low altitude (1600 m), followed by intermediate altitude (1950 m). The highest altitude (2650 m) contained only one distinct tree species (Oak). Site I has higher species diversity (Shannon Index: 2.1863, Evenness Index: 0.852) and density (5575 individual per hectare) dominated by Castonopsis indica, Quercus glauca, Myrica esculenta and myrsine capitellate. Site II has average species diversity (Shannon Index: 1.759, Evenness Index: 0.9) and an average density (2150 individual per hectare) dominated by Rhododendron arboretum, Castanopsis tribuloides and Quercus incana. At site III the forest is entirely dominated by Quercus semicarpifolia, a high altitude Oak. A linear trend of decreasing tree species diversity and density along with elevations was seen which might be because of intense afforestation by communities at lower elevation as site I and II under community managed forest and lower altitudinal ecozone with clear zonation of elevational vegetation types.International Journal of Environment Volume-4, Issue-3, June-August 2015Page: 130-139
Diversity index
Dominance (genetics)
Afforestation
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The present paper is about the species composition, diversity, equitability, richness and concentration of dominance of tree species along an altitudinal gradient of District Dir Lower Hindukush range of Pakistan. A total of 15 stands in Monotheca buxifolia (Falc.) A.D forests were analyzed at an elevation of 1370m to 1670m asl. The vegetation analysis showed that a total of six tree species existed and Monotheca buxifolia emerged as dominant tree species on all locations with IVI ranging between 62% to 100%. Olea ferruginea and Acacia modesta were reported in four stands as a second dominant species. At two locations Quercus baloot and Punica granatum were associated species with 14% and 35% of importance value respectively. Ficus palmata was notably found as a rare species in the study area. The total density ranged between 110 tree/ha to 304 tree/ha. Species diversity was ranged 0 to 0.36 and maximum diversity was reported at the elevation of 1370m and 1555m asl. Concentration of dominance and equitability values in some stands 1 to 1.70 were relatively high due to the presence of single species in the forests.
Dominance (genetics)
Punica
Diversity index
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In the present study we have described the impact of altitude on the species richness, species diversity and dispersion behaviour of different tree species in Himalayan temperate forest. We have observed that the values of all the growth indices i.e., Margalef's index (0.17 to 1.14), Menheink's index (0.27 to 0.80), Species diversity (0.99 to 2.34) and Simpson's diversity index (1.49 to 8.73) were maximum at the lower altitudes (2250-1850m asl), medium at mid-altitudes (2600-2400m asl) and lowest at the higher altitudes (2800-2700m asl). Significantly negative correlation of density and species richness with altitude and slope was recorded. The study suggests that the distribution and species richness pattern of different tree species are largely regulated by the altitude and climatic factors. (Journal of American Science 2009;5(5):119-128). (ISSN: 1545-1003).
Temperate forest
Diversity index
Temperate rainforest
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Altitudinally coordinated pattern of plant community structure in the Shivapuri National Park, Nepal
Study on plant community structure was undertaken in different altitudinal ranges of Shivapuri National Park. The general objective of this study is to analyse different plant community structure in Shivapuri National Park with regards to altitudinal variation. The forest was divided into three distinct altitudinal ranges on the basis of dominancy. In each altitudinal range standard quadrats method was applied for vegetation analysis. The highest number of species was found in site II. All the ecological parameters of the plant species were higher in site II except Basal Area of tree that was highest in site III. The pattern of distribution of plant species was not uniform according to altitude. At higher elevation, the forest was mature with almost closed canopy and trees were large; so the tree density was low. Species richness was highest in site II. Species diversity among tree and shrub species was higher in site I. But for herb species diversity was higher in site II for both seasons. Such type of variations may be due to nature of soil i.e. acidity, nutrient availability and other micro-climatic factors. The most noteworthy thing was that variation in flower colour of Rhododendron arboreum i.e. deep scarlet at low altitude, but it gradually changed into pinkish white as altitude increased. Key words: Altitude, Density, Plant community, Species diversity doi: 10.3126/banko.v18i1.2161 Banko Janakari, Vol. 18, No. 1, 11-17
Quadrat
Basal area
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The patterns of dominant species and ligneous plant community diversity was analyzed at different altitudinal gradients in the earth-rocky mountainous area in western Shanxi Province.The result are as follows: the dominant species had regular change in different altitudinal gradients;the species richness of all the ligneous plants decreased with the increment of altitude.The tree species richness was high in the community of high altitude,but the shrub species richness was high in the community of low altitude.In most altitude the richness of shrub species was greater than that of arbor species.The α diversity of arbor layers was big in high altitude,however the α diversity of shrub layer decreased with the increment of altitude.In the β diversity research,the Cody index and Whittaker index were studied in the communities of this region.The result indicated that the β diversity index was low among the communities of neighboring altitude,but the index increased when the distance was high between the communities.The result showed the value of β diversity indices was maximal in the region of about 1 650 m altitude.
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To explore and describe the species richness patterns along altitudinal, high mountain gradients, two transects - northern exposure (YG) and southern exposure (TD) at Mt. Jiuding (1200-4200 m) in Western China (31 degrees 13 '-31 degrees 46 ' N, 103 degrees 29 '-104 degrees 05 ' E) were selected. They differ from south to north in climate conditions and vegetation zonation, and each transect was sampled according to a uniform method. Every 200 m along the altitudinal gradient we set a sampling belt of 3000 m x 5 m to record the tree species, and 30 plots of 5 m x 5 m within every vegetation belt were used to investigate shrub and herb species. We compared the composition of plant species and calculated the coefficient of similarity between the two transects. A Generalized Additive Model (GAM) was used to describe the richness patterns. For the whole Mt. Jiuding, the richness at all three levels (species, genus and family) showed a monotonically decreasing pattern. As for the different growth forms, richness of the trees, shrubs and pteridophytes showed hump-shaped patterns; and herbs showed a slow decreasing pattern along the altitudinal gradients. In TD transect, the richness of species, genus and family also showed monotonically decreasing patterns; tree richness decreased with the increase of altitude; the shrub richness showed a humpshaped pattern; but pteridophytes and other herbs showed wave-like patterns. In YG transect, altitudinal gradient of richness at different taxonomic levels all showed hump-shaped patterns; and the species richness patterns for different growth forms peaked at middle attitude except for the graminoids and other herbs. The evolutionary history of the vegetation in Mt. Jiuding was quite consistent, and different richness patterns along altitudinal gradients might be resulted from different contemporary ecological conditions. Human disturbance and different range of altitudinal gradients were also important factors for different richness patterns between the two transects. In our study, species in different growth forms showed different altitudinal patterns, but those species with similar requirements to environmental conditions showed similar richness patterns along altitudinal gradients.
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Elevation (ballistics)
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Species Composition and Diversity in Mid-altitudinal Moist Temperate Forests of the Western Himalaya
The present study was undertaken in middle altitudinal (1500 to 2500 masl) moist temperate forest of Mandal-Chopta area in the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand, India. The aim of the present study was to assess the variation in species composition and diversity in different vegetation layers viz. herb, shrub and tree, at different altitudes. Shannon-Wiener diversity index ( ), Nha -1 , total basal cover per hectare (G), Simpson concentration of dominance, Pielou Equitability, species richness (SR), Margalef index, Menheink index of species richness and β-diversity were calculated to understand community composition. Tree G ranged from 84.25 to 35.08 m 2 ha -1 and total stem density varied from 990 to 1470 Nha -1 . Total SR (herb, shrub and trees) among different forest types ranged between 31 and 58. Maximum G of herb and shrub layers was recorded at lower altitudes between 1500 and 1650 masl. β-diversity was higher in herb layers as compared to tree and shrub layers. Dominance-diversity curves were also drawn to ascertain resource apportionment among various species in different forest types. Values of species diversity, , Nha -1 and G were higher in the study area as compared to similar forests growing in other parts of Uttarakhand Himalaya.
Dominance (genetics)
Diversity index
Basal area
Temperate rainforest
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Diversity index
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Abstract The Atlantic Forest is one of the most threatened tropical forests in the world. Leguminosae, by its great richness and dominance among arboreal stratum elements, is of major importance in the floristic composition and structure of this forest. We investigated the distribution of legume species on an altitudinal gradient to find out the altitudinal zones with higher richness of species; the altitudinal zones with greater floristic similarity; the possible presence of species that may be exclusive to certain vegetation types and the altitudinal amplitudes of those species, as well as the occurrence of species substitution along the altitudinal gradient. Therefore, thirty one studies conducted in different altitudinal levels between 5° S and 29° S were analyzed. A matrix with 142 tree species distributed in altitudinal zones (every 100 m) from sea level to 2100 m was built. The greatest species richness was observed in the Submontane Forest (50–500 m) with 92 species. The cluster analysis revealed a strong dissimilarity of the 1400–2100 m (Upper Montane) and 0–10 m zones (Restinga Forest). The Submontane and the Montane Forest share the highest number of species (38 ssp.). Forty species are unique to Submontane. Substitution of species was verified. Some species have their preferred habitat located at a specific altitudinal amplitude, as is the case of Inga laurina and I. subnuda (0–10 m), I. lanceifolia and Machaerium scleroxylon (800–1200 m). The Leguminosae, although well adapted to the first colonization and establishment of diverse environment, was poorly represented above 1500 m altitude.
Dominance (genetics)
Floristics
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