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Tree Diversity in The Shola Forests of Brahmagiri Wildlife Sanctuary, Karnataka, India

Unnikrishnan Revathy1 , Badenahally Chikkarangappa Nagaraja2 and Somaiah Sundarapandian1 *

1 Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Pondicherry University, Puducherry, India

2 Department of Environmental Sciences, Bangalore University, Jnanabharathi Campus, Bengaluru, Karnataka India

Corresponding author Email: smspandian65@gmail.com

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12944/CWE.18.1.6

Tree species composition and structure of the shola forest ecosystem were studied through 25 random quadrats of size 20 m × 20 m across the Brahmagiri Wildlife Sanctuary, Karnataka, India. Sixty-five tree species (47 genera and 35 families) were enumerated with a stand density of 1507 (?1 cm DBH) trees in 1 ha area. The Shannon’s, Simpson and Fisher’s alpha diversity indices were 3.654, 0.960 and 15.471 respectively for the area studied. The basal area of trees inventoried was 31.19 m2 ha-1. Seventeen species were endemic (26%) to the Western Ghats. Symplocos cochinchinensis showed dominance in terms of density, followed by Celtis philippensis, Elaeocarpus serratus, Ligustrum robustum, and Cinnamomum malabatrum. Lauraceae was identified as the most speciose family with a total of 11 species, followed by Rubiaceae (6 species). The lower diameter class (?10cm DBH) individuals were having higher proportion (67% (1007 individuals)) than that of the adult class (500 individuals) which indicated that the forest shows a good regeneration potential. However, few species including two endemic species have poor regeneration status. This enlightens that a thorough understanding of those species’ regeneration potential is warranted in order to carry out proper management plans and conservation.

Shola forests; Tropical montane forests; Tree regeneration; Western Ghats

Copy the following to cite this article:

Revathy U, Nagaraja B. C, Sundarapandian S. Tree Diversity in The Shola Forests of Brahmagiri Wildlife Sanctuary, Karnataka, India. Curr World Environ 2023;18(1). DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.12944/CWE.18.1.6

Copy the following to cite this URL:

Revathy U, Nagaraja B. C, Sundarapandian S. Tree Diversity in The Shola Forests of Brahmagiri Wildlife Sanctuary, Karnataka, India. Curr World Environ 2023;18(1).

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