Tree Community Assemblage and Abiotic Variables in Tropical Moist Deciduous Forest of Himalayan Terai Eco-Region

Abstract

The Himalayan foothills in northern India form one of the distinct eco-climatic regions of the world which affect plant communities. This study aims to analyse tree community assemblage along with associated abiotic variables in the tropical moist deciduous forests of Dudhwa National Park (DNP) in the Terai region. The cluster and non-metric multidimensional scaling (nMDS) analyses grouped the forests of DNP into five major forest types: Sal miscellaneous forest (SMF), Sal-Asna miscellaneous forest (SAMF), low-land miscellaneous forest (LMF), teak plantation (TP) and eucalyptus plantation (EP). Each forest type has its specific species composition and dominance. A sum of 23 site-specific tree species have been found to grow in the study area, with the maximum 14 site-specific species from the SMF followed by LMF and TP with seven and two species, respectively. The nMDS and Pearson’s correlation reveal that the different forest communities in Dudhwa National Park are characterized by the variations in abiotic variables (i.e. total organic nitrogen, TON; electrical conductivity, EC; soil bulk density, BD; soil porosity, SP; available phosphorous, P; potassium ion, K; and water holding capacity, WHC; air temperature, AT; and absolute air humidity, AAH). The study also reported 23 site-specific species, which require proper conservation measures due to their low ecological amplitude and narrow range of distribution.