ANALYSIS OF BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY, SOIL QUALITY AND MEDICINAL POTENTIAL OF GROUND FLORA UNDER PLANTATIONS RAISED ON DEGRADED BHATA LAND

摘要

The diversity of ground flora, soil micro flora and fauna under different plantations raised on Nayagaon bhata land area, Raipur (Chhatisgarh) was studied in September, 1998. Maximum ground flora species (25 m~(-2)) were found to occur in Mitragyna parviflora followed by Gmelina arborea (23 m~(-2)), Acacia catechu (22 m~(-2)), Azadirachta indica (22 m~(-2)) and Albizia labbeck (22 m~(-2)). Sixty to seventy three per cent of ground flora under Albizia lebbeck, Azadirachta indica, Tectona grandis, Leucaena latisiliqua and Phyllanthus emblica was of medicinal utility. Diversity index for ground flora was maximum (3,845) under Mitragyna parviflora followed by Acacia catechu (3.795), Gmelina arborea (3.789), Tectona grandis (3.595) and Albizia lebbeck (3.562) indicating more number of species with more stability as compared to open bhata land (3.173). Dominance index was lower for plantations except Leucaena latisiliqua and Cleistanthus collinus in comparison to open bhata land. In general, distributionof most of ground flora species in all plantations was contiguous. Index of similarity between plantations and open bhata land was low which indicates remarkable degree of dissimilarity of ground flora species. Plantations resulted in restoring soil fertility when available nutrients raised from low rating to medium/high rating. Fungal and bacterial population were of the order of 6x10~3 and 19xl0~3 per g soil respectively in open bhata land as compared to plantations where fungi varied from 9x10~3 to20xl0~3 and bacteria from 23xl0~3 to 57x10~3. Number of nematodes and VAM fungi spores were more in soils under plantations than open bhata land. Maximum nematodes (232) and vascular - arbuscuiar mycorhizal fungi spores (1395) were observed under Tectona grandis and Azadirachta indica plantations respectively.