Tropical rainforests constitute one of the world’s richest biomes with high species diversity. They play a crucial role in controlling global climate besides providing several direct benefits known to all. Several studies have been carried out to estimate the biodiversity of these forests at various sites across the world and have helped in identifying potential sites of species richness and diversity as well as hotspots that harbour high endemism. However, Andaman and Nicobar Islands situated in between the Bay of Bengal in the west and the Andaman Sea in the east have not been explored much owing to their remoteness and inaccessibility, along with hostile cannibalistic natives and other tribal communities. In the current study, phytosociological data were collected in two predominant forest types of the Middle Andaman Islands to analyze their tree diversity patterns. The tree attributes of tropical evergreen and moist deciduous forest of the islands were collected by stratified random sampling based vegetation type map derived from satellite data. The results of the study showed that the moist deciduous forests were more diverse that the evergreen forests. Myristica andamanica was the dominant species in evergreen forest and Pterocarpus dalbergioides in moist deciduous forest. A comparison of the tree diversity related patterns of these islands with other tropical forests, ranked them at comparable levels manifesting as highly luxuriant forests which should be conserved.

Source:http://www.scitechnol.com/analysis-of-tree-diversity-patterns-in-the-tropical-evergreen-and-moist-deciduous-forests-of-the-middle-andaman-islands-india-3iyH.php?article_id=1611

• Share this page
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•