Floristic Composition and Change in Species Diversity over Long Temporal Scales in Upper Bhotekoshi Hydropower Project Area in Nepal — Oak Academic Publishing
Research ArticleOpen AccessGoogle Scholar indexed
Floristic Composition and Change in Species Diversity over Long Temporal Scales in Upper Bhotekoshi Hydropower Project Area in Nepal
Institute of Ecology and Environment, Kathmandu, Nepal
,
Institute of Ecology and Environment, Kathmandu, Nepal
1 Institute of Ecology and Environment, Kathmandu, Nepal
2 Institute of Ecology and Environment, Kathmandu, Nepal
Forest and vegetation of particular ecosystem is generally influenced by external factors especially from development activities. Nepal has been endowed with an immense variety of forest resources with its unique biodiversity. The current study is conducted in the temperate forest of central Nepal to compare the state of vegetation recorded during 1995 with the present condition. To identify floristic composition, species distribution and diversity, same location and same size of quadrates were selected in natural forest and planted or regenerated area as in previous study. Measurement and analytical tools for forest and vegetation reveled a total of 19 species and 341 individuals in 0.14 ha regenerated area and 18 species, 17 genera and 260 individuals in 0.16 ha, natural forest areas. However, in 1995, total 31 individuals of 20 woody species, 18 genera and 15 families were recorded within the sampling plots of 0.16 ha of natural forest. Moreover, Alnus nepalensis is found dominating regenerated area and Caryopteris odorata in natural forests whereas in 1995, Litsea chartacea and Maesa chisia were recorded dominant. The Shannon’s diversity H’ = 2.908, E = 0.970 and Var H’ = -0.00 and Simpsons D = 0.027 recorded in 1995 is found to be with higher values when compared with the analysis of present study. Furthermore, in comparison to 1995 study, this study showed lower basal area and timber volume with declining species diversity. Although, the natural forest is found with higher species composition compared to rehabilitated forest, species of herbs and shrubs were found extensively growing.
KeywordsFloristic CompositionChanges in Species DiversityVegetation Analysis
Groombridge, B. and Jenkins, M.D. (2002) World Atlas of Biodiversity. Prepared by the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre, University of California Press, Berkeley.
Clements, F.E. (1920) Plant Succession: An Analysis of the Development of Vegetation. Carnegie Institute, Washington DC, 388 p, Publication No. 290.
Braun-Blanquet, J. (1932) Plant Sociology: The Study of Plant Communities. McGraw-Hill, New York, 439 p.
Odum, E.P. (1971) Fundamentals of Ecology. 3rd Edition, Saunders, Philadelphia, 574 p.
Jalas, J. (1955) Hemerobe und hemerochore Pflanzenarten. Ein terminologischer Reformversuch. Acta Societatis pro Fauna et Flora Fennica, 72, 1-15.
Sukopp, H. (1969) Der Einfluss des Menschen auf die Vegetation. Vegetation, 17, 360-371.
Kowarik, I. (1988) Zum menschlichen Einfluss auf Flora und Vegetation. Theoretische Konzepte und ein Quantifizierungsansatz am Beispiel von Berlin (West). Landschaftsentwicklung und Umweltforschung, 56, 1-280.
Kowarik, I. (1990) Some Responses of Flora and Vegetation to Urbanization in Central Europe. In: Sukopp, H., Hejny, S. and Kowarik, I., Eds., Urban Ecology: Plants and Plant Communities in Urban Environments, SPB Academic Publishing, The Hague, 45-74.
Reif, A. (2000) Das naturschutzfachliche Kriterium der Naturnaehe und seine Bedeutung fuer die Waldwirtschaft. Zeitschrift für Ökologie und Naturschutz, 8, 239-250.
Karki, M.B. (1991) The Rehabilitation of Forestland in Nepal. Natural Resources, 27, 38-46.
Chaudhary, R.P. and Kunwar, R.M. (2002) Vegetation Composition of Arun Valley, East Nepal. In: Chaudhary, R.P., Subedi, B.P., Vetaas, O.R. and Aase, T.H., Eds., Vegetation and Society: Their Interaction in the Himalayas, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu and University of Bergen, Norway, 38-55.
Geldenhuys, C.J. and Murray, B. (1993) Floristic and Structural Composition of Hanglip Forest in the Southpansberg, Northern Transvaal. Southern African Forestry Journal, 165, 9-20.
Longman, K.A. and Jenik, J. (1987) Tropical Forests and Its Environment. Longman Publishers, Singapur, 347 p.
Holdridge, L.R. (1967) Life Zone Ecology. Tropical Science.
Prentice, I.C., Cramer, W.P., Harrison, S.P., Leemans, R., Monserud, R.A. and Solomon, A.M. (1993) Special Paper: A Global Biome Model Based on Plant Physiology and Dominance, Soil Properties and Climate. Journal of Biogeography, 19, 117-134. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2845499
Stainton, J.D.A. (1972) Forests of Nepal. John Murray, London.
Chaudhary, R.P. (1998) Biodiversity in Nepal: Status and Conservation. Craftsman Press, Bangkok.
Newton, A.C., Cayuela, L., Echeverría, C., Armesto, J.J., Del Castillo, R.F., Golicher, D., Geneletti, D., Gonzalez-Espinosa, M., Huth, A., López-Barrera, F., Malizia, L., Manson, R., Premoli, A., Ramírez-Marcial, N., Rey Benayas, J.-M., Rüger, N., Smith-Ramírez, C. and Williams-Linera, G. (2009) Toward Integrated Analysis of Human Impacts on Forest Biodiversity: Lessons from Latin America. Ecology and Society, 14, 2.
IAIA (1999) Principles of Environmental Impact Assessment Best Practice. International Association of Impact Assessment and the Institute of Environmental Assessment (IAIA).
Newton, A.C. (2007) Biodiversity Loss and Conservation in Fragmented Forest Landscapes: The Forests of Montane Mexico and Temperate South America. CABI, Wallingford and Oxford. http://dx.doi.org/10.1079/9781845932619.0000
FAO (2006) The Global Forest Resources Assessment. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Rome.
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA) (2005) Ecosystems and Human Well-Being: Current State and Trends. Island Press, Washington DC.
Golicher, D. and Newton, A.C. (2007) Applying Succession Models to the Conservation of Tropical Montane Forest. In: Newton, A.C., Ed., Biodiversity Loss and Conservation in Fragmented Forest Landscapes: The Forests of Montane Mexico and Temperate South America, CABI, Wallingford and Oxfordshire, 200-222. http://dx.doi.org/10.1079/9781845932619.0200
Rüger, N., Armesto, J.J., Gutiérrez, A.G., Williams-Linera, G. and Huth, A. (2007a) Process-Based Modeling of Regeneration Dynamics and Sustainable Use in Species-Rich Rainforests. In: Newton, A.C., Ed., Biodiversity Loss and Conservation in Fragmented Forest Landscapes: The Forests of Montane Mexico and Temperate South America, CABI, Wallingford and Oxfordshire, 244-275. http://dx.doi.org/10.1079/9781845932619.0244
Rüger, N., Guitierrez, A.G., Kissling, W.D., Armesto, J.J. and Huth, A. (2007b) Ecological Impacts of Harvesting Options for Temperate Evergreen Rain Forest in Southern Chile—A Simulation Experiment. Forest Ecology and Management, 252, 52-66. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2007.06.020
Rüger, N., Williams-Linera, G., Kissling, W.D. and Huth, A. (2008) Long-Term Impacts of Fuel Wood Extraction on a Mexican Cloud Forest. Ecosystems, 11, 868-881. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10021-008-9166-8
IUCN (1995) Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) of Upper Bhotekoshi Hydropower Project, Sindhupalchowk District. International Union of Conservation of Nature, Nepal.
Mueller-Dombois, D. and Ellenberg, H. (1974) Aims and Methods of Vegetation Ecology. John Wiley and Sons, New York, 547 p.
DPR (2000) Flowering Plants of Nepal (Phanerogams). Department of Plant Resources, Government of Nepal, Kathmandu, N 2000, 399 p.
Whittaker, R.H. (1976) Evolution and Measurement of Species Diversity. Taxon, 21, 231-251.
Shannon, C.E. and Weiner, W. (1963) The Mathematical Theory of Communication. University of Illinois Press, Urbana, 117.
Simpson, E.M. (1949) Measurement of Diversity. Nature, 163, 688. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/163688a0
Hill, M.O. (1973) Diversity and Evenness: A Unifying Notation and Its Consequences. Ecology, 54, 427-432. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1934352
GoN/Earth Science (1984) Land Resource Mapping Project. Department and Kenning Earth Science Ltd., Canada.
Zobel, D.B., Jha, P.K., Behan, M.J. and Yadav, U.K.R. (1987) A Practical Manual for Ecology. Ratna Book Distributors, Kathmandu, 150 p.
Preston, R.W. (1962) The Canonical Distribution of Commonness and Rarity: Part I. Ecology, 43, 185-215. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1931976
Bhatt, R. (2010) Vegetation Analysis and Differences in Local Environment Variables in Indrawati Hydropower Project Areas in Nepal. International Research Journal: Plant Science, 1, 83-94.
Goetze, D., Karlowski, U., Tockner, K., Watve, A., Riede, K. and Porembski, S. (2008) Spatial and Temporal Dimensions of Biodiversity Dynamics. In: Barthlott, W., Linsenmaier, K.E. and Porembski, S., Eds., Biodiversity: Structure and Function, Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), UNESCO, Oxford, 166-208.
Foster, R.B. (1980) Heterogeneity and Disturbance in Tropical Vegetation. In: Soule, M.E. and Wilox, B.A., Eds., Conservation Biology: An Evolutionary Ecological Perspective, Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, 75-92.
Halpern, C.B. and Spies, T.A. (1975) Plant Species Diversity in Natural and Managed Forests of the Pacific Northwest. Ecological Applications, 5, 913-934. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2269343
Beier, C., Emmett, B.A., Penuelas, J., Schmidt, I.K., Tietema, A., Estiarte, M., Gundersen, P., et al. (2008) Carbon and Nitrogen Cycles in European Ecosystems Respond Differently to Global Warming. Science of the Total Environment, 407, 692-697. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2008.10.001
Dullinger, S., Gattringer, A., Thuiller, W., Moser, D., Zimmermann, N.E., Guisan, A., Willner, W., et al. (2012) Extinction Debt of High-Mountain Plants under 21st Century Climate Change. Nature Climate Change, 2, 619-622. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nclimate1514
Grabherr, G., Gottfried, M. and Pauli, H. (1994) Climate Effects on Mountain Plants. Nature, 369, 448. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/369448a0
Theurillat, J.P. and Guisan, A. (2001) Potential Impact of Climate Change on Vegetation in the European Alps: A Review. Climatic Change, 50, 77-109. http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1010632015572
Chapin III, F.S., Zavaleta, E.S., Eviner, V.T., Naylor, R.L., Vitousek, P.M., Reynolds, H.L., Hooper, D.U., Lavorel, S., Sala, O.E., Hobbie, S.E., Mack, M.C. and Díaz, S. (2000) Consequences of Changing Biodiversity. Nature, 405, 234-242. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/35012241
Shrestha, R.K. and Paudel, K.C. (1996) Oak Forest under Threat: An Urgent Concern for the Mountain Environment. In: Jha, P.K., Ghimire, G.P.S., Karmacharya, S.B., Baral, S.R. and Lacoul, P., Eds., Environment and Biodiversity: In the Context of South Asia, ECOS, Kathmandu, 114-119.
Kunwar, R.M. (2002) Participation and Benefits to Local People in Community Forestry: A Case from Makawanpur District, Nepal. Thesis, Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal, 93 p.
Bhatt, R. and Khanal, S. (2009) Environmental Impact Assessment System in Nepal: An Overview of Policy, Legal Instruments and Process. Kathmandu University Journal of Science, Engineering and Technology, 5, 160-170.
Rosenzweig, M.L. (1995) Species Diversity in Space and Time. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511623387
McGuinness, K.A. (1984) Equations and Explanations in the Study of Species—Area Curves. Biological Review, 59, 423-440. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-185X.1984.tb00711.x
Spurr, H.R. and Barnes, B.V. (1980) Forest Ecology. 3rd Edition, John Wiley, New York.
Green, D.M. and Kauffman, J.B. (1995) Succession and Livestock Grazing in a Northeast Oregon Riparian Ecosystem. Journal of Range Management, 48, 307-313. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/4002482
Attiwill, P.M. (1994) The Disturbance of Forest Ecosystems: The Ecological basis for Conservative Management. Forest Ecology and Management, 63, 247-300. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0378-1127(94)90114-7
Fujisaka, S., Escobar, G. and Veneklass, E. (1998) Plant Community Diversity Relative to Human Land Uses in Amazon Forest Colony. Biodiversity and Conservation, 1, 41-57.
Phillips, O.L. (1997) The Changing Ecology of Tropical Forests. Biodiversity and Conservation, 6, 291-311. http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1018352405482
Kellomaki, S., Peltola, H., Nuutinen, T., Korhonen, K.T. and Strandman, H. (2008) Sensitivity of Managed Boreal Forests in Finland to Climate Change, with Implications for Adaptive Management. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 363, 2341-2351. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2007.2204
Phillips, S.J., Dudík, M., Elith, J., Graham, C.H., Lehmann, A., Leathwick, J. and Ferrier, S. (2009) Sample Selection Bias and Presence-Only Distribution Models: Implications for Background and Pseudo-Absence Data. Ecological Applications, 19, 181-197. http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/07-2153.1
Malhi, Y., Aragão, L.E.O.C., Galbraith, D., Huntingford, C., Fisher, R., Zelazowski, P., Sitch, S., McSweeney, C. and Meir, P. (2009) Exploring the Likelihood and Mechanism of a Climate-Change-Induced Dieback of the Amazon Rainforest. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 106, 20610-20615. http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0804619106
Gornish, E. and Tylianakis, J.M. (2013) Community Shift under Climate Change: Mechanism at Multiple Scales. American Journal of Botany, 100, 1422-1434. http://dx.doi.org/10.3732/ajb.1300046
Leuzinger, S., Luo, Y., Beler, C., Dileleman, W., Vicca, S. and Korner, C. (2011) Do Global Change Experiments Overestimate Impacts on Terrestrial Ecosystems? Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 26, 236-241. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2011.02.011
Chave, J. (2013) The Problem of Pattern and Scale in Ecology: What Have We Learned in 20 Years? Ecology Letters, 16, 4-16.
Zomer, R., Ustin, S.L. and Carpenter, C.C. (2001) Land Cover Change along Tropical and Subtropical Riparian Corridors within the Makalu Barun National Park and CA, Nepal. Mountain Research and Development, 21, 175-184. http://dx.doi.org/10.1659/0276-4741(2001)021[0175:LCCATA]2.0.CO;2
Horn, H.S. (1975) Markovian Properties of Forest Succession. In: Cody, M.L. and Diamond, J.M., Eds., Ecology and Evolution of Communities, Belknap Press, Massachusetts, 196-211.
CBD (2010) Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Global Biodiversity Outlook 3. Montréal, 94p.
CBD (2009a) Convention on Biological Diversity. COP 9, Bonn.
CBD (2009b) Convention on Biological Diversity. Revision and Updating of the Strategic Plan: Possible Outline and Elements of the New Strategic Plan.
Mace, G.M., et al. (2010) Biodiversity Targets after 2010. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 2, 3-8. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2010.03.003