Diversity of Herbs in some sal Forests in Shiwalik Region of Central Himalaya, India

Abstract

Present study was carried out to assess the composition, structure and diversity of under canopy herbs in three different sal forests in Shiwalik region of Central Himalaya, India. Study was based on the random sampling by quadrat method in the forests to quantify the herbaceous flora. Total 36 species belonging to 19 families were present at the sites. The herb density range was 15.38-48.51 ind m-2 in sal dense, sal mixed dense and sal open canopy forests. The range of species diversity of herbs was 3.37-3.59, concentration of dominance 0.113-0.154, equitability 0.71-1.07, β-diversity 1.2-1.8 and evenness 6.39-6.67 in the forests. Species richness was maximum (31) in sal forest with open canopy. Present study indicated that open canopy has significant impact on herbaceous ground flora. Thus it is concluded that the canopy cover, proper light intensity to the ground surface and proper space in between the tree species have impact on the understorey vegetation of forests.