Tree species composition and diversity in montane forests of Garhwal Himalaya in relation to environmental and soil prop
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e-mail: [email protected] http://jms.imde.ac.cn https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-019-5761-8
Tree species composition and diversity in montane forests of Garhwal Himalaya in relation to environmental and soil properties
Dinesh Singh RAWAT1,2* P. TIWARI1
e-mail: [email protected]
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5067-4239; e-mail: [email protected]
Sudipta Kumar DAS2 J. K. TIWARI1
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9554-4822;
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2355-8715; e-mail: [email protected]
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9337-8269; e-mail: [email protected]
*Corresponding author 1Department 2Central
of Botany & Microbiology, HNB Garhwal University, Srinagar (Garhwal) - 246174, Uttarakhand, India
National Herbarium, Botanical Survey of India, Howrah - 711103, West Bengal, India
Citation: Rawat DS, Tiwari P, Das SK, Tiwari JK (2020) Tree species composition and diversity in montane forests of Garhwal Himalaya in relation to environmental and soil properties. Journal of Mountain Science 17(12). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-019-5761-8
© Science Press, Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, CAS and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract: The montane forests of Garhwal Himalaya were investigated for tree species composition and diversity in relation to environmental and edaphic variables. A stratified random sampling approach was adopted to collect the field data from each forest. A total of 39 tree species belonging to 31 genera and 23 families were recorded from the sampling area (6 forest stands ൈ 10 plots in each). Lauraceae with 5 species was the largest family while Quercus (4 species) emerged as the largest genus. Species-area curve (asymptote) predicted more species than the observed number of species. Cluster analysis has shown that the two Abies pindrow dominant forest stands had the highest similarity in tree species composition. The tree stem density ranged from 540– 1170 ha-1, basal area 23.01–55.94 m2 ha-1, ShannonWiener diversity index 1.69–2.49, evenness index 0.42–0.74, beta diversity 0.40–0.82 and similarity index 0.17–0.54 in the six studied forests. Two-way indicator species analysis (TWINSPAN) identified four distinct tree communities in the study area with Received: 01-Sep-2019 1st Revision: 14-Aug-2020 2nd Revision: 29-Sep-2020 Accepted: 14-Oct-2020
Daphniphyllum himalayense, Abies pindrow, Quercus oblongata, and Pinus roxburghii as indicator species of corresponding communities. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) ascertained the TWINSPAN results and revealed the relation of tree species with environmental and edaphic variables. The phytosociological attributes of tree species varied from one forest stand to another; however, the tree species richness, density, and diversity peaked at intermediate elevation on the north aspect. Findings reveal that tree composition and diversity in the montane forests of Garhwal Himalaya are influenced by both environmental (elevation and slope aspect) and soil variables (texture, water holding capacity, m
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