OPA06

Phyto-Sociology and Diversity of Trees in the Forests of Jashpur District, Chhattisgarh, India

SK Jadhav, AK Pati, ML Naik, Afaque Quraishi, Shashi Bhushan, Dinesh k Sharma and Chumpeshwar K Nishad

National Centre for Natural Resources, P. Ravishankar Shukla University, Raipur - 492 010, India

Correponading autheor email: shashi1849@gmail.com

[Received 15 January 2016, accepted 23 January 2016]

Abstract: Phyto-Sociological studies of forest trees have been conducted in Jashpur district. The district is situated in north castern part of Chhattisgarh. Forest vegetation of the district was studied by belt transect method. The area of the district was divided into 10 x 10 km' grids. Characteristics of trees for girth, frequency, density, abundance and height were recorded From this data importance value index for each of the tree species was calculated. From the data different Biodiversity indices were caculated such as Shannon index, Simpson index and Alpha diversity. Cluster analysis was performed to determine the level of similarity in the tree species characters, between the different grids. For the calculation of diversity indices and cluster analysis, basal area of the trees was taken as the base for calculation. The study revealed that sal (Shorea robusta) is the most dominant tree species of the forests of the district. Density and variety of shrubs were found to be poor. Among the recorded 53 tree species, three species, vic Dalbergia latifolia, Cleistanthius collinus and Pierocarpus marsapium are included in the vulnerable category in the IUCN Red List However, in the Red Data Book of Indian Plants, authored by Nayar and Sastry and published by Botanical Survey of India, none of these species have been included in their list. During present studies Dalbergia latifolia was found to be rare but the other two tree species, mentioned to be vulnerable in the Ref List by the IUCN, were found to be almost as widely distributed as any other common species, Further, Cleistunshias collinus was not only widely distributed but was found to be forming almost pure stand at several places.

Keywords: Biodiversity, IUCN Red List, Diversity Indices, Jashpur