Biological Spectrum of a Grassland Community of Balasore District in Odisha

International Journal of Scientific Research and Review ISSN NO: 2279-543X

Biological spectrum of a grassland community of Balasore District in Odisha

Satyananda Barik1 and Kamal Lochan Barik2* 1M.Phil. Student, Department of Botany, North Orissa University, Baripada – 757003. 2Assistant Professor of Botany, North Orissa University, Baripada - 757003, Odisha, India, *Corresponding Author Email : [email protected]

ABSTRACT The biological spectrum of a grassland community of Jamjhadi (21° 12’ 0” N ; 86° 38’ 30” E) of Balasore district in the state of Odisha was studied from January 2017 to December 2017. The community comprised of 27 species. Out of which 8 species were grasses and 19 species were non-grasses. Almost all life form classes were observed in the community. The community was found to be therophytic. The present study showed the presence of Therophyte, 4.84 times higher than that of Raunkiaer’s (1934) normal spectrum.

Keywords : Grassland, Life forms, Biological Spectrum.

INTRODUCTION Grasslands are the terrestrial environment on which the domesticated and majority of wild animals depend for their nutrition. They also play a significant role in the survival of mankind. They not only regulate the meat and milk production of a region or a country also protects and conserves soil, water resources and provides aesthetic / recreational value. Grasslands have their structural and functional variability and help in sustenance of life on earth.

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Literature review reveals some work on grassland of Kurukhetra [1], Varanasi [2], Berhampur [3,4,5], Western Orissa [6], South Orissa [7,8], Phulbani [9], Bhubaneswar [10], Rangamatia [11], Rairangpur [12], Vilathibilai [13], Bangriposi [14] and grassland of Jajpur [15]. However, very little work has been made so far on the grassland community, particularly in Balasore district of Odisha. Therefore, in this investigation an attempt has been made to study the life-forms and biological spectrum of a grassland community of Balasore district in the state of Odisha.

Study Site and Environment An experimental grassland community was selected at Jamjhadi (21° 12’ 0” N ; 860 38’ 30” E) in the Simulia block of Balasore District (Fig - 1 & 2). The altitude of the site was found to be 18m above the sea level. The site was located at a distance of about 103km from North Orissa University and 47km from Balasore town in the state of Odisha.

Fig-1: Map showing the location of the study site.

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Fig-2: Photograph showing the experimental site.

Being the climate of the locality is monsoonal, three distinct seasons i.e. rainy (July to October), winter (November to February) and summer (March to June) were observed during the study period. The total rainfall during the study period was found to be 1566 mm, of which a maximum of 440 mm of rain was recorded during July. Total number of rainy days was found to be 88 days during the study period. The mean maximum and mean minimum atmospheric temperature recorded during the study period were found to be normal. May showed the highest temperature whereas January exhibited the lowest temperature (Table -1).

Table -1: Monthly rainfall, mean minimum and mean maximum atmospheric temperature and relative humidity (mean value) of the experimental site during the study period.

Atmospheric temperature (oC) Relative Month (s) Rain fall No. of Mean Mean Humidity (mm) rainy days minimum maximum (mean value) Jan. 2017 - - 12.02 27.52 0.65 Feb. 2017 - - 17.46 32.36 0.64 Mar. 2017 102 6 21.09 32.00 0.52 Apr. 2017 12 1 22.64 32.79 0.60 May 2017 130 9 22.79 36.47 0.55 June 2017 217 11 22.17 33.97 0.76 July 2017 440 18 21.59 32.05 0.58 Aug. 2017 209 19 24.37 32.96 0.77 Sept. 2017 230 12 22.57 32.76 0.56 Oct. 2017 176 7 23.07 32.58 0.79 Nov. 2017 37 2 17.95 29.03 0.71 Dec. 2017 13 3 13.97 25.72 0.69 Total 1566 88 3

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The soil pH of the experimental site was found to be somehow acidic ranging from 6.06 to 6.38. The percentage of organic carbon varies from 0.21 to 0.34. The available phosphorus content in the soil was found to be very low (2.68ppm to 4.1 ppm) whereas the available potassium contents in the soil was exhibited a range of 90.8 ppm to 116.2 ppm (Table-2).

Table-2 : The pH, conductivity, organic carbon (%), available phosphorus and potassium content of the soil of the study site (n= 5 each).

Surface depth Organic Available Available (cm) pH Conductivity Carbon Phosphorus Potassium (%) (ppm) (ppm) 0 - 10 6.38 0.01 0.34 2.68 116.2 10 -20 6.32 0.01 0.28 4.10 90.8 20 -30 6.06 0.01 0.21 3.08 92.4

MATERIALS AND METHODS The plant specimens preferably along with flowering parts were collected from the experimental grassland and brought to the laboratory for identification. Identification of all the species was made in consultation with, The Botany of Bihar and Orissa [16], Supplement to the Botany of Bihar and Orissa [17], The Flora of Orissa [18], Flora of Madhya Pradesh [19, 20, 21]. The voucher specimens were made into herbarium [22] and housed in the laboratory for future use and reference. The various life-form classes were analyzed as per Raunkiaer’s system [23] which was subsequently modified by Dansereau [24] and Rao [25]. This was based on the positions of the regenerating parts of the plants encountered during the study period and incorporated in this investigation.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The community comprised of 27 plant species, of which 8 species were grasses and 19 species were non-grasses. The life forms of the site showed almost all 5 classes. Out of 27 plant species, one species belongs to class phanerophyte, four species to class chamaephyte, three species to class hemicryptophyte, two species to class cryptophytes and a maximum of 17 species to class therophyte. The community was found to be therophytic (Table -3).

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Table-3 : Life forms of various species occurring in the experimental grassland community.

Life form classes Name of the species Phanerophytes Chromolaena odorata (L.) R.M. King & H. Rob. Chamaephytes Achyranthes aspera L. Hedyotis auricularia L. Oldenlandia corymbosa L. Spermacoce ramanii Sivar. & R.V. Nair Hemicryptophytes Boerhavia diffusa L. Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers. Pennisetum pedicellatum Trin. Cryptophytes Cyperus niveus Retz. Cyperus rotundus L. Therophytes Andrographis paniculata (Burm.f.) wall. ex Nees Alternanthera sessilis(L.) R. Br. ex DC. Chenopodium album L. Croton sparsiflorus Morong. Dactyloctenium aegyptium (L.) Willd. Eragrostis curvula (Schrad.) Nees Eragrostis ferruginea (Thunb.) P. Beauv. Eragrostis gangetica (Roxb.) Steud. Eragrostis spectabilis (Pursh) Steud. Parthenium hysterophorus L. Scoparia dulcis L. Setaria viridis (L.) P. Beauv. Sida acuta Burm. f. Spilanthes paniculata Wall.ex DC. Tridax procumbens L. Vernonia aspera (Roxb.) Buch.- Ham Vernonia cinerea (L.) Less.

Based on species composition the experimental grassland shared 3.7% of phanerophyte, 14.8% of chamaephyte, 11.1% of hemicryptophyte, 7.4% of cryptophyte and 63% of therophyte. Compared to Raunkiaer (1934), the present study revealed 4.84 times higher therophyte than the normal spectrum (Table-4).

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Table-4 Biological spectrum showing a comparative study of present findings to that of Raunkiaer normal spectrum (1934).

% contribution Classes No. of species Present study Raunkiaer (1934) Phanerophytes 1 3.7 46 Chamaephytes 4 14.8 09 Hemicryptophytes 3 11.1 26 Cryptophytes 2 7.4 06 Therophytes 17 63.0 13 Total 27 100 100

CONCLUSION The biological spectrum of present grassland community may vary from place to place and from time to time. It might be due to the variability in topography, geological distribution, climatic condition, soil characteristics and biotic activity of the area.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The authors are thankful to the Officer (I/C), District Meteorology Station, Govt. of Odisha, Sunhat, Balasore for providing necessary meteorological data and the Soil Chemist, District Soil Testing Laboratory, Govt. of Odisha, Takatpur, Baripada for analysis of soil samples of the experimental site.

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