Composition, structure and productivity of the herbaceous vegetation of five forest stands varying in soil moisture and nitrogen in Central Himalaya, India

Abstract

Herb layer contributes significantly to the species diversity of forest ecosystem and reacts rapidly to changes in the soil characteristics. Composition, structural parameters and productivity of the herbaceous vegetation of five forest stands in the Central Himalaya of India, situated at Nainital district of Uttarakhand, India were investigated. At each site, 1 ha plot was established and herbaceous vegetation was analysed by placing 30 random quadrats of 50x50 cm at each site. To determine the soil moisture and soil nitrogen, soil samples were collected from each site and analysed in the laboratory. The aim of the present investigation was to comprehend the dependency among herb density, diversity, biomass, soil moisture and total soil nitrogen. Results showed that chosen sites contrasted in terms of soil moisture, total soil nitrogen, herbaceous diversity, and biomass. In this study, 70 genera, 73 species from 31 families of herbs were recorded. Total number of herbaceous species recorded in the stands varied from 28 (PI and HG) to 50 (TA).Total individuals of all herb species were 110, 114,141, 164 and 188 plants m-2 in RU, HG, PI, BP and TA forest stands, respectively. Index of similarity and species turnover ranged from 34.48 to 62.50 and 0.31 to 0.54 respectively. Herb density, diversity and biomass showed positive correlation with soil moisture and soil nitrogen. These findings suggested that the soil moisture and nitrogen enhanced the herbaceous diversity by ameliorating soil conditions. This study also demonstrated a straight relationship between herbaceous diversity and biomass indicating the significance of species diversity for ample generation of biomass in forest ecosystem.