Journal of Ecology and Environment

The Ecological Society of Korea (한국생태학회)
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Effects of reforestation approaches, agroforestry and woodlot, on plant community composition, diversity and soil properties in Madhupur Sal forest, Bangladesh

  • Hasan, Mohammad Kamrul (Department of Agroforestry, Faculty of Agriculture, Bangladesh Agricultural University) ;
  • Islam, Md. Tariqul (Department of Agroforestry, Faculty of Agriculture, Bangladesh Agricultural University) ;
  • Akter, Rojina (Department of Agroforestry, Faculty of Agriculture, Bangladesh Agricultural University) ;
  • Roshni, Nasima Akther (Department of Agroforestry, Faculty of Agriculture, Bangladesh Agricultural University)
  • Received : 2022.05.20
  • Accepted : 2022.07.22
  • Published : 2022.09.30
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Abstract

Background: Increasing land demands for food production have led to biodiversity loss and land degradation in the Madhupur Sal forest. Reforestation activities such as agroforestry and woodlot plantation support the conservation of diversity, restoration of forest and prevention of soil erosion in degraded natural Sal forest. Knowing about these reforestation activities, this study is needed to compare the species composition, richness, and soil nutrients of these two plantation activities to the natural Sal forest in the degraded Madhupur Sal forest in Bangladesh. Results: The analysis showed that in between the reforestation activities, the highest Shannon-Wiener index (1.79), evenness (0.60) and Simpson's index (0.79) were found in the agroforestry site compared to the woodlot plantation site. On the contrary, the highest species richness (n = 14), tree basal area (19.56 m2 ha-1), Margalef's index (1.96) were recorded in woodlot plantation than in the agroforestry site. We observed that at 0-15 cm depth, soil organic matter (2.39%), total nitrogen (0.14%), available phosphorous (62.67 ㎍ g-1) and exchangeable potassium (0.36 meq/100 g) in agroforestry plots were significantly higher compared to other forest sites. At topsoil (15-30 cm depth), soil organic matter (1.67%) and available phosphorous (21.09 ㎍ g-1) were found to be higher in agroforestry site. Conclusions: Both reforestation approaches improved soil function, although woodlot plantation had the higher species richness. Therefore, plantation activities by the sustainable implementation of these two practices are the best alternative to restore the biodiversity, richness and conserve soil fertility in the Madhupur Sal forest of Bangladesh.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

We would like to thank Bangladesh Agricultural University Research System (BAURES) for financial support and the authorities of Madhupur Sal Forest in Bangladesh for their invaluable assistance throughout data gathering.

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