Plant Diversity and Vegetation Structure in Sal (Shorea robusta Gaertn.) Dominated Forest of Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary, Jharkhand, India

摘要

The Sal (Shorea robusta) dominated forest vegetation of Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary, West Singhbhum, Jharkhand, India was explored to evaluate the diversity and vegetation structure through different phyto-sociological attributes. The knowledge of the structure and composition of the plant communities has enormous significance in conservation of managed forests, therefore, the plant species diversity, structure and importance value index (IVI) at various levels, viz., trees, shrubs and herbs were studied. A total of 153 plant species (66 trees, 30 shrubs and 57 herbs) belonging to 124 genera of 51 families were recorded from the 30 random plots marked for sampling within the sanctuary. The IVI was highest in Shorea robusta (40.87) and lowest in Syzygium salicifolium (1.08). Shannon-Weaver's diversity index was recorded highest in herbaceous species (3.66) than in trees (3.08) and shrubs (2.66). Simpson's index was highest in trees (0.106) than in shrubs (0.035) and herbs (0.028). Pielou's index was found highest in herbs (0.064) than in shrubs (0.048) and trees (0.046) which was within the range reported for different Indian forests and also which indicates that the sanctuary exhibits species diverse forest. The result of plant species diversity andtheir quantitative features reveal that the overall community is heterogeneous.