ISSN 2375-074X
African Journal of Plant Breeding ISSN 2375-074X Vol. 6 (10), pp. 001-006, October, 2019. © International Scholars Journals
Full Length Research Paper
Structure and composition of vegetation in subtropical forest of Kumaun Himalaya
Geeta Kharkwal1,2* and Yaswant Singh Rawat2
1Graduate School of Environmental Earth Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-0810, Japan.
2Department of Botany, DSB Campus, Kumaun University, Nainital, Uttarakhand, India.
Accepted 22 May, 2019
Abstract
An extensive sampling was conducted for vegetational analysis in different forest sites between 1600 and 2600 m asl in Kumaun Himalaya. Quercus leucotrichophora A. Campus, Quercus floribunda Lindl. ex Rehder, Quercus semecarpifolia J.E. Smith and Pinus roxburghii Sarg. are the dominant tree species in banj- oak, tilonj-oak, kharsu-oak and chir- pine forests, respectively. Among the sampling sites, total density of tree, shrub and herb species was ranged from 10 to 28.6 individuals (indv/100 m2) 1.8 to 21.7 indv/25 m2, and 28.1 to 103.7 indv/m2, respectively. The total abundance-frequency (AF) ratio of tree, shrub and herb species across the sampling sites varied from 0.23 to 1.25, 0.25 to 1.79 and 3.4 to 27.3, respectively. The abundance- frequency ratio in the present study showed contagious distribution pattern in tree, shrub and herb species.
Key words: Species composition, density, frequency, distribution pattern, Kumaun Himalayan forest.