Short duration overnight cattle kraaling in natural rangelands: Implications for grass composition, quality, above ground biomass, species diversity and basal cover

Limited information is available on the species composition, above ground biomass and its relations to grazing in a trans-Himalayan rangeland. Its assessment is essential for long term conservation and management. In the present study, we compared species composition, phenology, diversity index and biomass between controlled (without grazing) and open (free grazing) plots to assess the effects of grazing in the selected experimental sites of Upper Mustang during July and November 2005. Species encountered were classified as high, medium, low and non palatable and in three life form categories-grasses, shrubs and forbs. The experimental sites are dominated by forbs (80%) followed by grasses (15%) and shrubs (5%). Disturbance caused by grazing affects the phenological characteristics of the plant community. Result also reveals that species diversity, maximum possible diversity, evenness and species richness was higher in the grazed plots during July and November. A comparison of the aboveground biomass in July showed that mean percentage biomass of high, medium and low palatable species is higher in ungrazed plots. In November, the percentage biomass of only medium palatable species was higher in ungrazed plots and rest of the category is higher in grazed plots. Significant difference in July, a peak growing seasons for most of the plant species in the region reveals that the pasture has impact of livestock grazing. Keywords: Biomass, diversity, grazing effect, rangeland, species Banko Janakari: A journal of forestry information for Nepal Vol.17(1) 2007 pp.25-31

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Grazing Exclusion, a Choice between Biomass Growth and Species Diversity Maintenance in Beijing—Tianjin Sand Source Control Project

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su11071941 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (7) ◽

pp. 1941 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Yuzhe Li ◽

Jiangwen Fan ◽

Hailing Yu

Keyword(s):

Species Diversity ◽

Diversity Index ◽

Source Control ◽

Total Biomass ◽

Above Ground Biomass ◽

Grazing Exclusion ◽

Ground Biomass ◽

Wiener Diversity Index ◽

Restoration Practices ◽

Sand Source

Grasslands in northern China form an important ecological barrier that prevents and controls desertification. The Beijing–Tianjin Sand Source Control (BTSSC) Project has been implemented to restore grassland in order to control sand sourced pollution. This study aimed to understand the impacts of four applied restoration practices on the productivity, composition, and species diversity of vegetation communities in the BTSSC Project. The results indicated the following: (1) All the restoration practices tended to increase the height and cover of communities, and the effect was most obvious where grazing was excluded; (2) total biomass (87%), above-ground biomass (164%) and below-ground biomass (58%) only increased consistently when grazing was excluded from the steppe; (3) fenced and grazing exclusion practice significantly increased the abundance of species in communities, but all the practices tended to decrease the evenness of species; and, (4) the correlation analysis revealed that the Shannon–Wiener diversity index, and Pielou evenness index, showed significant negative correlations with the above-ground biomass of grassland communities after restoration, while no significant relationships were shown in reference plots. Our comparison of applied practices in the BTSSC project revealed that grazing exclusion might be a high priority for more successful restoration in this region.

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Synergetic use of in situ and hyperspectral data for mapping species diversity and above ground biomass in Shoolpaneshwar Wildlife Sanctuary, Gujarat

Tropical Ecology ◽

10.1007/s42965-020-00068-8 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 61 (1) ◽

pp. 106-115 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Ramandeep Kaur M. Malhi ◽

Akash Anand ◽

Ashwini N. Mudaliar ◽

Prem C. Pandey ◽

Prashant K. Srivastava ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Species Diversity ◽

Hyperspectral Data ◽

Above Ground Biomass ◽

Wildlife Sanctuary ◽

Ground Biomass

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Changes in species diversity and above-ground biomass of shrubland over long-term natural restoration process in the Taihang Mountain in North China

Plant Soil and Environment ◽

10.17221/216/2011-pse ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 57 (No. 11) ◽

pp. 505-512 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

X. Liu ◽

W. Zhang ◽

Z. Liu ◽

F. Qu ◽

X. Tang

Keyword(s):

Species Diversity ◽

Forest Ecosystem ◽

Dominant Species ◽

Vegetation Recovery ◽

Above Ground Biomass ◽

Restoration Process ◽

Ground Biomass ◽

Natural Restoration ◽

Taihang Mountain

In order to restore the impaired forest ecosystem in China, great efforts including the banning of the animal grazing and cutting woods for fuel, and implementation of the ‘Grain for Green’ program have been made by the central and local government of China. The objective of this research was to investigate the changes in above-ground biomass and species diversity after 22 years of vegetation recovery efforts in the lower Taihang Mountain of China. The results indicated that over the natural restoration process shrubs became the dominant species in 2008, while herbs were the dominant species back in 1986. Community coverage, height and above-ground biomass showed significant increases in 2008 compared to 1986. Shrubs showed significant increases in coverage, height, and above-ground biomass, whereas herbs significantly increased in height, but decreased in above-ground biomass. Over the 22-year natural restoration process, the species richness index and the Shannon-Wiener’s index had been significantly decreased, whereas the Simpson’s predominance index and the Pielou’s evenness index had been significantly increased. Long-term vegetation recovery efforts improved the impaired forest ecosystem in lower Taihang Mountain to some extent: significant increases in both community coverage and above-ground biomass. The significant increase in community coverage can reduce the soil loss by wind and water erosion, and increase in the above-ground biomass will improve the soil chemical properties and physical structure. A comprehensive assessment of the success of vegetation recovery should include the evaluation of the changes in ecological process such as soil biological activities in the future research.

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Tree species diversity and above-ground biomass of natural temperate forest: montane versus lowland forest

Dendrobiology ◽

10.12657/denbio.073.001 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 73 ◽

pp. 3-10

Author(s):

Anna Gazda ◽

Stanisław Miścicki ◽

Kazimierz Chwistek

Keyword(s):

Species Diversity ◽

Tree Species ◽

Temperate Forest ◽

Tree Species Diversity ◽

Above Ground Biomass ◽

Lowland Forest ◽

Ground Biomass

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Analyzing the Relationship, Distribution of Tree Species Diversity, and Above-Ground Biomass on the Chitwan-Annapurna Landscape in Nepal

International Journal of Forestry Research ◽

10.1155/2020/2789753 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 2020 ◽

pp. 1-10

Author(s):

Shiva Pokhrel ◽

Chungla Sherpa

Keyword(s):

Species Diversity ◽

Sea Level ◽

Tree Species ◽

Diversity Index ◽

Tree Species Diversity ◽

Above Ground Biomass ◽

Breast Height ◽

Ground Biomass ◽

The Relationship ◽

Landscape Level

Forests provide numerous ecosystem goods and services. Their roles are considered as important for both climate mitigation and adaptation program. In Nepal, there are significant forest resources which are distributed in different regions; however, the studies on the spatial tree species distribution and the above-ground biomass and their relationship at the landscape level have not been well studied. This study aims to analyze the relationship, distribution of tree species diversity, and above-ground biomass at a landscape level. The data used for this study were obtained from the Forest Research and Training Center of Nepal, International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), and Worldwide Wildlife Fund (WWF-Nepal). The landscape has a mean of 191.89 tons ha−1 of the above-ground biomass. The highest amount of the above-ground biomass measured was 650 tons ha−1 with 96 individual trees, and the least was 3.428 tons ha−1. The measured mean height of the tree was 11.77 m, and diameter at breast height (DBH) was 18.59 cm. In the case of the spatial distribution of the above-ground biomass, plots distributed at the middle altitude range greater than 900 meters above sea level (m. a. s. l) to 3000 meters above sea level taking more amount of the above-ground biomass (AGB). Similarly, the highest plot-level Shannon diversity index (H’) was 2.75 with an average of 0.96 at the middle altitude region followed by the lower region with an average of 0.89 and least 0.87 at a higher elevation. Above-ground biomass (R2 = 0.48) and tree height (R2 = 0.506) significantly increased with increasing elevation up to a certain level increased of elevation. Diameter at breast height (DBH) showed significance (R2 = 0.364) but small increase with increasing elevation, while the relationship among tree species diversity index, above-ground biomass, and elevation showed a weak and very weak positive relationship with R2 = 0.018 and R2 = 0.002, respectively. Based on the overall results, it is concluded that elevation has some level of influence on the forest tree diversity and above-ground biomass. The finding of this study could be useful for landscape-level resource management and planning under various changes.

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