Floral Composition and Diversity Pattern in Open and Closed Dry Deciduous Forest

Abstract

Forests are the important source of subsistence, employment, revenue earning and raw material to various industrial uses. Above all they are most important component of life support system on the earth. The present study was conducted to analyze the impact of biotic disturbance on composition and diversity of dry deciduous forests of Barnawapara wild life sanctuary, Chhattisgarh, India. For this, two sites viz. open canopy forest and closed canopy forest were selected. Floristic analysis of tree vegetation was done and density, Important Value Index, diversity index etc. were determined for both the sites. Regeneration status of tree species was analysed by developing population structures. Species number was high in closed canopy forest as compared to open canopy forest. Tree density (1520 trees ha−1) and basal area (50.35 m2ha−1) were higher in closed canopy forest than in open canopy forest (650 trees ha−1 density and 48.29 m2ha−1 basal area). In sapling layer species number (14), density (590 saplings ha−1) and basal area (2.46 m2ha−1) were higher in closed canopy forest as compared to open canopy forest. Seedling layer also follow the similar trend. Generally, Shannon index, species richness and equitability were higher in closed canopy forest than open canopy forest. Thus, it can be concluded that biotic disturbance adversely affect the forest composition and diversity.