scholarly journals Trends in Tree Diversity and Stand Structure during Restoration: A Case Study in Fragmented Moist Deciduous Forest Ecosystems of Northeast India

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Koushik Majumdar ◽  
Uma Shankar ◽  
Badal Kumar Datta

Ecological implications for the conservation of fragmented forests to managed local plant diversity have recently drawn much attention of most conservationists. Present study investigates the importance of fragmented forests using different quantitative measures of species diversity and stand structure as indicators of natural restoration from past disturbances. Eleven independent 500 m × 10 m belt transects (5.5 ha) were established within fragmented low land moist deciduous forests of Tripura. All woody plants ≥10 cm girth at breast height (GBH) were measured. A total of 7,134 individuals with mean density of 648.55 stems ha−1 and 16.36 m2 ha−1 of basal area were recorded, which represented 134 species, 93 genera, and 43 families of woody plants. Diversity-dominance curve showed that maximum number of species were ranked >10 due to low abundance value. Maximum distributions of stems (>50%) were recorded at lowest girth class (10–30 cm) as an indication of advanced regeneration and significantly declined towards upper girth (radj2=0.93; P<0.0001) and height (radj2=0.95; P<0.0001) classes, which also indicated that some plants were adopted with ongoing disturbances through both seeded and nonseeded regeneration. Species richness (radj2=0.49; P=0.05), dominance (radj2=0.68; P=0.009), and density (radj2=0.62; P=0.02) were significantly increased at different disturbance intensities. Disturbances strongly influenced typical community association and structure by increasing diversity and population at certain magnitude and thereby showed declining trend towards maturation. Fragmented moist deciduous forests seek immediate attention as they represent spatial habitat for many economical or ecological important species, thus sustaining local biodiversity for livelihoods.

Rodriguésia ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 379-389 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacira Rabelo Lima ◽  
Everardo Valadares de Sá Barretto Sampaio ◽  
Maria Jesus Nogueira Rodal ◽  
Francisca Soares Araújo

Abstract The Brazilian semiarid region is dominated by caatinga. However, other vegetation formations occur, including deciduous and semi-deciduous forests. This study describes physiognomy and structure of a forest on the sedimentary Ibiapaba plateau. All plants within one hectare were separated into three components: woody plants with perimeter at soil level (PSL) ≥ 9 cm (WCLP), woody plants with PSL ≥ 3 and ≤ 8.9 cm (WCSP), and herb/subwoody plants (HSwC). WCLP included 88 species (33 families), WCSP 50 species (23 families) and HSwC only 7 species (5 families). Total density, basal area, and maximum and average height of WCLP were 5683 plants/ha, 47 m2/ha, 18 and 5 m respectively. Total density and basal area of WCSP were 17500 plants/ha and 2.8 m2/ha, respectively. Density of HSwC was 9 plants/m2 and only 31% of the sampled area was occupied by this component.


1991 ◽  
Vol 21 (11) ◽  
pp. 1567-1572 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert N. Muller ◽  
Yan Liu

Volume and mass of coarse woody debris (> 20 cm diameter) in an old-growth forest on the Cumberland Plateau in southeastern Kentucky averaged 66.3 m3/ha and 21.8 Mg/ha, respectively. Coarse woody debris was patchily distributed among 80 sample plots (0.04 ha each), with 10 plots containing 39% of the total mass. Coarse woody debris mass was inversely, although not strongly, related to plot basal area. While 23 species contributed to the accumulation of coarse woody debris, five accounted for 72% of the total mass. These included Quercusprinus L. (25% of the total), Fagusgrandifolia L. (16%), Quercusalba L. (12%), Castaneadentata (Marsh.) Borkh. (11%), and Quercusvelutina Lam. (9%). The few studies of coarse woody debris in old-growth deciduous forests of North America suggest a regional pattern of accumulation correlated with temperature. In warmer regions, old-growth deciduous forests accumulate a mass in the range of 22–32 Mg/ha, while in cooler ecosystems, coarse woody debris ranges from 34 to 49 Mg/ha.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 1085-1093
Author(s):  
J Naveenkumar ◽  
Somaiah Sundarapandian

A quantitative inventory was conducted in two distinctive tropical deciduous forests at Suruli falls forest of southern Western Ghats.  Two one-hectare plots were established and all trees >10cm DBH measured. Species richness, density, family importance value (FIV) and importance value index (IVI) were calculated and the results varied among the two sites. A total of 777 stems and 52 species were documented in both the sites and moist deciduous forest (MDF) had maximum number species richness and density than dry deciduous forest (DDF). The basal area was higher in MDF (502 stems/ha and 16.52 m2/ha) than in DDF (275 stems/ha and 7.23 m2/ha). However, Shannon and evenness indices showed a negative trend (DDF- 2.62, 0.41 and MDF- 2.37, 0.27). Diameter class-wise distribution of trees showed reverse ‘J shaped’ curve in both the forest types. Pterocarpus marsupium was the mono-dominant species holding one-third of the IVI (113), 27% of the stem density and 30% of the total basal area. DDF site is suspected to recurrence of annual fire. Anogeissus latifolia and Strychnos potatorum were the fire-tolerant species only found in lower diameter class. The maximum species shared contiguous distribution in the deciduous forests. The observed variations in the tree community between the two deciduous forest sites are possibly due to variations in altitude, rainfall, temperature, past disturbance, fire and edaphic characteristics.


2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 681-685 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chaman Lal ◽  
Lalji Singh ◽  
Varun Attri ◽  
S. Sarvade

Tree species diversity, distribution and population structure of tropical forests of Bharnawapara wildlife sanctuary was investigated. The study analyzed the structure of a tropical dry deciduous forest in Chhatisgarh at different sites i.e. closed natural forest, open natural forest and plantation forests of teak. The study was conducted by laying 30 quadrats, each 10 m × 10 m in size at different sites. In total, 246 trees belonging to 28 species of 17 families were recorded from 0.3 ha sampling area. Density ranged between 520 to 990 trees ha-1 subsequently, basal area ranged between 21.50 to 47.30 m2 ha-1. The dominant tree species was Cleistanthus collinus with an importance value index (IVI) of 57.70. Other important species were Terminalia tometosa (IVI 47.10), Lagerstroemia parviflora (36.92), Diospyros melanoxylon (28.42) and Madhuca indica(26.03). The Shannon-Wiener index (H′) ranged between 0.19 to 3.35 and Simpson’s index (C) between 0.12 to 0.95 indicating high tree species diversity of tropical dry deciduous forests. It is evident from the study that natural forest has an edge over plantation forest in terms of species diversity, dominance and richness. Tree species diversity, distribution and population structure provide baseline information for conservation and management of tropical dry deciduous forests in India. Efforts are needed to conserve the natural forest for their diversity and existence. They can also be supplemented with plantation forests to lower the biotic pressure.


Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 843
Author(s):  
Ella R. Gray ◽  
Matthew B. Russell ◽  
Marcella A. Windmuller-Campione

Insects, fungi, and diseases play an important role in forest stand development and subsequently, forest management decisions and treatments. As these disturbance agents commonly occur within and across landscapes, modeling has often been used to inform forest planning and management decisions. However, models are rarely benchmarked, leaving questions about their utility. Here, we assessed the predictive performance of a Bayesian hierarchical model through on–the-ground sampling to explore what features of stand structure or composition may be important factors related to eastern spruce dwarf mistletoe (Arceuthobium pusillum Peck) presence in lowland black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill.) B. S. P.). Twenty-five state-owned stands included in the predictive model were sampled during the 2019 and 2020 growing seasons. Within each stand, data related to the presence of eastern spruce dwarf mistletoe, stand structure, and species composition were collected. The model accurately predicted eastern spruce dwarf mistletoe occurrence for 13 of the 25 stands. The amount of living and dead black spruce basal area differed significantly based on model prediction and observed infestation, but trees per hectare, total living basal area, diameter at breast height, stand age, and species richness were not significantly different. Our results highlight the benefits of model benchmarking to improve model interpretation as well as to inform our understanding of forest health problems across diverse stand conditions.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leszek Bartkowicz ◽  

The aim of the study was to compare a patch-mosaic pattern in the old-growth forest stands developed in various climate and soil conditions occurring in different regions of Poland. Based on the assumption, that the patch-mosaic pattern in the forest reflect the dynamic processes taking place in it, and that each type of forest ecosystem is characterized by a specific regime of natural disturbances, the following hypotheses were formulated: (i) the patches with a complex structure in stands composed of latesuccessional, shade-tolerant tree species are more common than those composed of early-successional, light-demanding ones, (ii) the patch-mosaic pattern is more heterogeneous in optimal forest site conditions than in extreme ones, (iii) in similar site conditions differentiation of the stand structure in distinguished patches is determined by the successional status of the tree species forming a given patch, (iv) the successional trends leading to changes of species composition foster diversification of the patch structure, (v) differentiation of the stand structure is negatively related to their local basal area, especially in patches with a high level of its accumulation. Among the best-preserved old-growth forest remaining under strict protection in the Polish national parks, nineteen research plots of around 10 ha each were selected. In each plot, a grid (50 × 50 m) of circular sample subplots (with radius 12,62 m) was established. In the sample subplots, species and diameter at breast height of living trees (dbh ≥ 7 cm) were determined. Subsequently, for each sample subplot, several numerical indices were calculated: local basal area (G), dbh structure differentiation index (STR), climax index (CL) and successional index (MS). Statistical tests of Kruskal- Wallis, Levene and Generalized Additive Models (GAM) were used to verify the hypotheses. All examined forests were characterized by a large diversity of stand structure. A particularly high frequency of highly differentiated patches (STR > 0,6) was recorded in the alder swamp forest. The patch mosaic in the examined plots was different – apart from the stands with a strongly pronounced mosaic character (especially subalpine spruce forests), there were also stands with high spatial homogeneity (mainly fir forests). The stand structure in the distinguished patches was generally poorly related to the other studied features. Consequently, all hypotheses were rejected. These results indicate a very complex, mixed pattern of forest natural dynamics regardless of site conditions. In beech forests and lowland multi-species deciduous forests, small-scale disturbances of the gap dynamics type dominate, which are overlapped with less frequent medium-scale disturbances. In more difficult site conditions, large-scale catastrophic disturbances, which occasionally appear in communities formed under the influence of gap dynamics (mainly spruce forests) or cohort dynamics (mainly pine forests), gain importance.


CERNE ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fábio Venturoli ◽  
Augusto César Franco ◽  
Christopher William Fagg

In the Cerrado biome of Brazil, savannas and dry forests are intimately linked and form mosaics. These forests are composed of species of high commercial value, well accepted in the timber market, which causes intensive deforestation on the remaining vegetation. Thus, the management of these forests is an important alternative to reduce deforestation in the remaining vegetation. The objective of this study was to analyze the response of tree species in relation to silvicultural treatments of competition and liana cutting in a semi-deciduous forest in Central Brazil. The results showed that community basal area increased 24% over 4.8 years and the median periodic annual increment in diameter was about 20% higher in plots with silvicultural treatments: 2.9 mm.yr-1 in the control compared to 3.2 mm.yr-1 to 3.6 mm.yr-1 between treatments. This study demonstrated that it is possible to increase the rates of radial growth through silvicultural techniques.


2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 466-476
Author(s):  
Bijendra Lal ◽  
L.S. Lodhiyal

Present study deals with stand structure, biomass, productivity and carbon sequestration in oak dominated forests mixed with other broad leaved tree species. The sites of studied forests were located in Nainital region between 29058’ N lat. and 79028’ E long at 1500-2150 m elevation. Tree density of forests ranged from 980-1100 ind.ha-1. Of this, oak trees shared 69-97%. The basal area of trees was 31.81 to 63.93 m2 ha-1. R. arboreum and Q. floribunda shared maximum basal area 16.45 and 16.32 m2 ha-1, respectively in forest site-1 and 2 while Quercus leucotrichophora shared maximum (35.69 m2 ha-1) in site-3. The biomass and primary productivity of tree species ranged from 481-569 t ha-1 and 16.9-20.9 t ha-1yr-1, respectively. Of this, biomass and primary productivity of oak tree species accounted for 81 to 95 and 78 to 98%, respectively. Carbon stock and carbon sequestration ranged from 228 to 270 t ha-1 and 8.0 to 9.9 t ha-1yr-1, respectively. The share of oak tree species ranged from 81 to 94.7 and 79 to 97%, respectively. The diversity of tree species ranged from 0.03 to 0.16 in forest sites-1, 2 and 3. The diversity of oak species was 0.08-0.16 in all the forest sites. Thus it is concluded that among the oak tree species, Quercus floribunda and Quercus leucotrichophora were highly dominated in the studied forests. The climax form of oak dominated trees in the studied forest sites depicted slightly lower richness and diversity of tree species compared to the forests in the region and elsewhere. As far as dry matter and carbon of forests is concerned, these estimates are close to the earlier reports of forests in the region. Therefore, studied forests have the potential to increase the diversity, productivity and carbon sequestration of forest tree species by providing the adequate scientific conservation and management inputs.


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