Short-term girth increment and biomass changes in tree species of Javadhu hills, Eastern Ghats, Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract

Patterns of tree growth, biomass changes in 10 ha permanent plots of tropical moist evergreen forest in Javadhu hills of the Eastern Ghats, India, were investigated between 2015 and 2017. All trees ≥30 cm girth at breast height (GBH) were measured, tagged and the point of measurement (POM) was paint-marked. Short-term girth increment and biomass of tree species was studied after two years in October 2017, by re-measuring all the tagged trees exactly at the same POM. There was no change in species richness during the study period. Overall, at the tree community-level, the mean annual girth increment of was 0.93±0.10 cm yr−1. The mean stand basal area increased by 0.019 m2 ha−1 i.e. from 208.76 m2 ha−1 in 2015 to 209.98 m2 ha−1 in 2017. The above ground biomass increased totaled 96.3 Mg in 10 ha study plots (an average 9.63 ha−1). Simple linear regression between leaf surface area of trees and mean annual girth increment produced not any strong correlation (R2 = 0.1414).