Research Article | Published: 01 June 2014

Change in structural and compositional diversity with altitude: a study from Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve (NDBR), West Himalaya, India

H. C. Joshi and Sher Singh Samant

Indian Journal of Forestry | Volume: 37 | Issue: 2 | Page No. 121-136 | 2014
DOI: https://doi.org/10.54207/bsmps1000-2014-KM91X3 | Cite this article

Abstract

This paper describes the structural and compositional pattern of forest communities in the temperate and sub-alpine zones of Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve. It gives information about 344 species belonging to 227 genera and 95 families of vascular plants recorded between 2100 to 3600m amsl. These species include 40 trees, 64 shrubs and 240 herbaceous species distributed within 13 forest communities. It was found that the density of trees, seedlings, saplings and shrubs was higher in temperate zone than sub-alpine zone. However, density of herbs was lower in temperate zone in comparison to sub-alpine zone. This paper also gives information on distribution of native, endemic, economically important and rare-endangered species in different communities. Finally, the communities and species have been prioritized for conservation.

Keywords

Forest communities, Vascular plants, Temperate zone, Sub-alpine zone, Endemic, Rare-endangered, Conservation

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Joshi, H.C. and Samant, S.S., 2014. Change in structural and compositional diversity with altitude: a study from Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve (NDBR), West Himalaya, India. Indian Journal of Forestry, 37(2), pp.121-136. https://doi.org/10.54207/bsmps1000-2014-KM91X3

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