Journal of Forest and Environmental Science

Institute of Forest Science, kangwon National University (강원대학교 산림과학연구소)
권호 표지
DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

Inventory of Plant Species, Phytosociology, Species Diversity and Pedological characteristics of Rambhi Beat, Senchal East Zone Forest Range, Darjeeling, West Bengal, India

  • Palit, Debnath (Department of Conservation Biology, Durgapur Government College) ;
  • Banerjee, Arnab (Department of Conservation Biology, Durgapur Government College)
  • Received : 2013.12.30
  • Accepted : 2014.02.22
  • Published : 2014.11.30
Download PDF
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

The present study is an attempt to give an account of the inventory of plant species, phytosociological characteristics of vegetation and pedological characteristics of Rambi Beat Forest under Senchal East Forest Zone, Darjeeling, West Bengal, India. Its plant community were analyzed quantitatively and synthetically. The results reflect dominancy of dicotyledons over monocotyledons in the four studied sites The plant community comprising of 50 plant species belonging to 40 genera of 27 families. Ramhi beat reflected higher diversity of species. Maximum IVI value was recorded by Viola surpense (47.17) in Rambhi forest beat. The Berger parker index and evenness index were found to be highest for Viola surpense, Fragaria nubicola, Pilea umbrosa in Rambhi beat. The soil characteristics of the different pedons revealed alkaline nature of soil in Rambhi beat. Higher levels of soil organic carbon content reflect higher fertility of the soil of Rambhi beat. The response towards soil available nitrogen and phosphate were different among the ten pedons of Rambhi beat. Therefore, proper management and conservative measures needs to be implemented for conservation of bioresources in Senchel wildlife Sanctuary of West Bengal, India.

Keywords

References

  1. Banerjee S, Pal P, Banerjee SK. 1985. Soil characteristics and Floristic composition of some sub-alpine forest of Darjeeling West Bengal. Indian Nath Sci Acad 51: 450-457.
  2. Bremner JM, Mulvaney CS. 1982. Nitrogen total. In: Method of soil analysis. Part2, Chemical and Microbiological methods (Miller AC, RH, Kieney DR, eds). Agronomy series No.9. 2nd ed. American Society for Agronomy and Soil Sciences, Medison, WI, pp 595-624.
  3. Black CA. 1965. Methods of Soil Analysis. American Society of Agronomy, Inc, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
  4. Chapin FS 3rd, Korner C. 1995. Patterns, causes, changes, and consequences of biodiversity in arctic and alpine ecosystems. Arctic and Alpine Biodiversity: Patterns, Causes and Ecosystem Consequences 113: 313-320. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-78966-3_22
  5. Chanda S, Palit D. 2009. Ecological Study on plant diversity and pedological characteristics in Rangiroom forest beat, Senchal West Zone Forest Range, Darjeeling. Pleione 3: 50-58.
  6. Chandran P. 1987. Soil Characteristics under different Forest cover in the Eastern Himalayas. Indian Agris 2: 93-99.
  7. Cornell HV, Lawton JH. 1992. Species interactions, local and regional processes, and limits to the richness of ecological communities: a theoretical perspective. J Anim Ecol 61: 1-12. https://doi.org/10.2307/5503
  8. Das AP, Lahiri AX. 1997. Phytosociological studies of the ground covering flora in different types of vegetation in Tiger Hill, Darjeeling District, West Bengal (India). Indian For 123: 1176-1187.
  9. Day FP, Monk CD. 1974. Vegetation patterns on a southern Appalachian watershed. Ecology 55: 1064-1074. https://doi.org/10.2307/1940356
  10. Dhir RP. 1967. Pedological Characteristics of Soil of the North Western Himalayas. J India Soc Soil Sci 15: 61-69.
  11. Fox TR, Comeford NB, Fee WW. 1990. Kinetics of phosphorous release from spodosols: Effect of oxalate and formate. Soil Science Society Amerca Journal 54: 1441-1447. https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj1990.03615995005400050038x
  12. Harper JL. 1977. Population Biology of Plants. Academic Press, New York.
  13. Hooper DU, Chapin FS 3rd, Ewel JJ, Hector A, Inchausti P, Lavorel S, Lawton JH, Lodge DM, Loreau M, Naeem S, Schmid B, Setala H, Symstad A, Vandermeer JJ, Wardle DA. 2005. Effects of biodiversity on ecosystem functioning: A consensus of current knowledge. Ecological Monographs 75: 3-35. https://doi.org/10.1890/04-0922
  14. Host GE, Pregitzer KS. 1992. Geomorphic influences on ground-flora and over story composition in upland for- Plant diversity in boreal forest of north-western Lower Michigan. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 22: 1547-1555. https://doi.org/10.1139/x92-205
  15. Huenneke LF, Anderson JP, Remmenga M, Schlesinger WH. 2002. Desertification alters patterns of aboveground net primary production in Chihuahuan ecosystems. Global Change Biology 8: 247-264. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2486.2002.00473.x
  16. Huston MA. 1994. Biological diversity. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
  17. Jaramillo VJ, Sanford RLJR. 1985. Nutrient cycling in tropical deciduous forests. In: Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests (Bullock SH, Mooney HA, EO Medina, eds). Academic Press Inc, London, pp 347-362.
  18. Kull K, Zobel M. 1991. High species richness in an Estonian wooded meadow. Journal of Vegetation Science 2: 715-718. https://doi.org/10.2307/3236182
  19. Magurran AE. 1988. Ecological diversity and its measurement. Princeton University Press, Princeton.
  20. Marks PL, Harcombe PA. 1981. Forest vegetation of the Big Thicket, southeast Texas. Ecological Mono-graphs 51: 287-305. https://doi.org/10.2307/2937275
  21. Misra R. 1968. Ecology Workbook. Oxford and IBH Publishing Company, Calcutta.
  22. Morgentha TL, Cilliers SS, Kellner K, Hamburg HV, Michael MD. 2001. The vegetation of ash disposal sites at Hendrina power station I: Phytosociology. South African Journal of Botany 67: 506-519. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0254-6299(15)31183-2
  23. Nath. 1998. Changes in Soil Attributes Consequent upon Differences in Forest Cover in a Plantation Area. Indian Soc Soil Sc 36: 515-521.
  24. Oechel WC, Callaghan TV, Gilmanov TG, Holten JI, Maxwell B, Molau U, Sveinbjornsson B. 1997. Global change and arctic terrestrial ecosystems. Springer, Berlin.
  25. Olsen SR, Sommers LE. 1982. Phosphorus. In: Methods of soil analysis, part 2 (Page AL, ed). Agronomy No. 9. 2nd ed. ASA and SSSA, Madison, WI, pp 403-430.
  26. Pal DK, Nath S, Banerjee SK. 1984. Pedological Characteristics of some soils of the Darjeeling Himalayan Region. Soc Soil Sci 32: 16-24.
  27. Patrick R. 1997. Biodiversity: Why is it important? In: Biodiversity II (ReakaKudla ML, Wilson DE, Wilson EO, eds). Joseph Henry Press, Washington, DC. pp 15-24.
  28. Pollock MM, Naiman RJ, Hanley TA. 1998. Plant species richness in riparian wetlands - a test of biodiversity theory. Ecology 79: 94-105.
  29. Rhodes JD. 1982. Soluble salts. In: Method of soil analysis. Part 2, Chemical and microbiological properties (Page AC, Miller RH, Kieney DR, eds). Agronomy series No.9. 2nd ed. American Society of Agronomy: Soil Science Society of America, Madison, Wis, pp 167-180.
  30. Rannie WF. 1986. Summer air temperature and number of vascular species in arctic Canada. Arctic 39: 133-137.
  31. Rai U, Das AP. 2008. Diversity of trees in the darjiling foothill region of eastern Himalaya. NBU J Pl Sci 2: 39-57.
  32. Rai IK, Prasad P, Sharma E. 2000. Conservation threats to some important medicinal plants of Sikkim Himalaya. Biol Conservation 93: 27-33. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0006-3207(99)00116-0
  33. Raunkiaer C. 1934. The life forms of plants and statistical. Plant Geography, Being the collected papers of C. Raunkiaer. Clarendon Press, Oxford, pp 632.
  34. Reynolds HL, Tenhunen JD. 1996. Landscape function and disturbance in Arctic tundra. Springer, Berlin.
  35. Shannon CE, Weaver W. 1949. The mathematical theory of communication. The University of Illinois Press, Urbana, IL.
  36. United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). 1997. World Atlas of Desertification. 2nd ed. Edward Arnold, London, and Wiley, New York, USA.
  37. Verstraete MM, Schwartz SA. 1991. Desertification and global change. Vegetatio 91: 3-13. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00036043
  38. Whittaker RH, Niering WA. 1975. Vegetation of the Santa Catalina Mountains, Arizona. V. Biomass, Production, and Diversity along the Elevation Gradient. Ecology 56: 771-790. https://doi.org/10.2307/1936291
  39. Whittaker RH, Levin SA. 1977. The role of mosaic phenomena in mosaic communities. Theoretical Population Biology 12: 117-139. https://doi.org/10.1016/0040-5809(77)90039-9
  40. Wilde SA. 1954. Reaction of soils: Facts and facilities. Ecology 35: 89-99. https://doi.org/10.2307/1931409