Life Sciences Leaflets FREE DOWNLOAD ISSN 2277-4297(Print) 0976–1098(Online) PHYTOSOCIOLOGICAL STUDY OF KESHKAL VALLEY, KONDAGAON DISTRICT IN CHHATTISGARH SAJIWAN KUMAR ASSISTANT PROFESSOR Index Copernicus Value SOS FORESTRY & WILDLIFE, 2011:5.09, 2012:6.42, 2013:15.8, 2014:89.16 , BASTAR VISHWAVIDYALAYA, JAGDALPUR, 2015:78.30, 2016:91 CHHATTISGARH – 494 001. NAAS Rating Corresponding author’s e-mail: [email protected] 2012:1.3; 2013 -16: 2.69 2017-19: 3.98 ABSTRACT: Received on: The species composition, abundance, density and frequency were 22nd May 2019 studied in tropical dry deciduous forests of Keshkal Valley of Revised on: Kondagaon district of Bastar division of Chhattisgarh state. The th 12 June 2019 district Kondagaon is marked with hills and hillocks, dense forested Accepted on: areas, high altitude, hot summer, metamorphic calcareous rocks and 20th June 2019 tropical dry deciduous monsoon vegetation. Phytosociological analysis was based on the data generated from the sample plots laid at random Published on: 1st July 2019 covering with entire valley area. Quadrates of 10m× 10m size for trees and 1m ×1m for shrubs were laid down in the total area of 487.674 Volume No. 2 Online & Print km . Total of 401 species were enumerated from the sampled 113 (2019) quadrates. The species present as per preponderance are trees 221, herbs and shrubs 180. These statistics gives composition of the forest, Page No. 33 to 44 and information on the diversity of the communities as a whole provided a better insight into the state of the forests in the Keshkal Valley. Phytosociological characters such as frequency, density and Life Sciences Leaflets abundance were influenced by the climatic, anthropogenic and biotic is an international open stresses prevailing at the study sites. All the species present at the access print & e journal, peer reviewed, study sites have shown maximum values of frequency, density and worldwide abstract abundance in rainy season in comparison of summer and winter listed, published every seasons. month with ISSN, RNI Free- membership, KEY WORDS: Keshkal Valley, Phytosociology, Quantitative analysis, downloads and access. https://lifesciencesleaflets.petsd.org/ PEER-REVIEWED Page | 33 Life Sciences Leaflets FREE DOWNLOAD ISSN 2277-4297(Print) 0976–1098(Online) Tropical dry deciduous forests. INTRODUCTION: Phytosociology deals with plant communities, their composition and development, and the relationship between the species within them. A Phytosociological system is a system for classifying these communities. The aim of phytosociology is to achieve a coefficient empirical model of vegetation using plant taxa combination that characterizes vegetation units. Phytosociology is useful to describe the population dynamics of each plant species occurring in a particular community and to understand how they relate to the other species in the same community (Mishra et al., 2012). The herbaceous layer composition is changing continuously in space and time due to a multitude of factors, such as grazing, fire, and rainfall which differs in intensity and duration (Shameem, et al., 2010). Maintaining or increasing the plant species diversity is an important goal of habitat managers in semi-arid environments (West, 1993). Phytosociological investigation of vegetation serves as a pre-requisite for investigating the details of primary productivity of ecosystems. Species diversity in the tropics varies dramatically between habitats. We know that ecosystems are undergoing change due to pollution, invasive species, overexploitation by humans, and climate change. Phytosociological analysis of any vegetation forms an important part of ecological study as it provides a clear understanding of the community structure which is necessary for adequate characterization of the present community. The present investigation was carried out with the object to study the plant communities associated with and depleting plant species found wild on the overgrazed Valley of Keshkal to understand distribution and dominance of the particular species in all protected as well as distributed habitat. Tropical and subtropical forests are often referred to as one of the most species-diverse terrestrial ecosystems. Their immense biodiversity generates a variety of natural resources which help to sustain the livelihood of local communities. However, many tropical forests are under great anthropogenic pressure and require proper management measures to maintain the overall biodiversity, productivity and sustainability. Most of the forests are disappearing at alarming rate owing to deforestation for extraction of timber and other forest products (Murphy and Lugo, 1986; Hireman et al.,2002). A sound understanding of the richness of species is necessary for appropriate conservation and restoration of the biological diversity. Forest ecosystems are the major repository of genes and species in a region. Any activity on forest lands will have a significant impact on local, regional and global biodiversity (Kimmain, 1997). Phytosociological data for the state of Chhattisgarh in general and Keshkal region in particular are scanty. Some of the earlier studies in this area are by https://lifesciencesleaflets.petsd.org/ PEER-REVIEWED Page | 34 Life Sciences Leaflets FREE DOWNLOAD ISSN 2277-4297(Print) 0976–1098(Online) Gopalkrishna (2000) for Warangal and for the southern Eastern Ghats by Reddy et al., (2008). Besides, no assessment of forest vegetation in terms of quantitative and floristic analysis has been done in the protected areas of the Deccan biogeography region. The available local floral data collection endeavors have documented plant species occurring in the district based on random sampling surveys. Therefore, the present study is aimed at quantitative assessment of the vegetation of Keshkal valley. Kondagaon division is well known in biodiversity as it consists of forest cover containing rich flora and fauna. Hence, the present study was undertaken during 2017– 18 in respect to phytosociological and other related parameters of floral biodiversity. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present research was carried out in Keshkal Valley of Kondagaon district at Bastar region in Chhattisgarh state during the year 2016-17. Keshkal Valley is nearby destination in 129 km from Jagdalpur and 180 km from Raipur on National Highway No. 30. It is a beautiful spot and provides an amazing view of the green vegetation in and around the valley. The vegetation in the valley is a classic example of southern tropical dry deciduous forests (Champion & Seth 1968) with predominantly Tectona grandis and its associates like Anogeissis latifolia, Bombax ceiba, Boswellia serrata, Chloroxylon swietenia, Cleistanthus collinus, Diospyros melanoxylon, Haldinia cordifolia, Hardwickia binata, Mitragyna parviflora, Lannea coromandelica, Strychnos nux- vomica, Terminalia alata, Terminalia arjuna, etc. The climate is dry humid tropical consists three major season via, rain, winter and summer. The rainy season commences from about the middle of June. The winter season, which commences from the beginning of November, lasts till the end of February. The summer commences from the beginning of March. It is quite prolonged and severs and lasts till monsoon sets in. About 80% of the annual rainfall is coming from southwest monsoon during June to August and the highest amount of the rainfall occurring in month of July. Sandy loam, clay loam, silt loam, late rite and few areas covered by gravel soil. For the quantitative assessment of the study site, the Phytosociological parameters such as frequency, density, abundance, importance value index (IVI) and similarity index were calculated from the recorded observations during the study and using different formula for analysis as given by Mishra (1968). Raw data were collected during 2016-17 by laying random quadrates (10 m×10 m size for trees, and 1m ×1m for shrubs) in different sites of Keshkal Valley at Kondagaon district. A total of 487.674 km forest area was sampled and structural parameters like frequency, density and Abundance have been calculated by standard methodologies (Curtis and Mc Intosh, 1950). https://lifesciencesleaflets.petsd.org/ PEER-REVIEWED Page | 35 Life Sciences Leaflets FREE DOWNLOAD ISSN 2277-4297(Print) 0976–1098(Online) The following Phytosociological attributes were measured from each site during field data collection. Total number of Individuals in all sampling units 푫풆풏풔풊풕풚 = Total number of sampling units studied Number of sampling units in which species occur 푭풓풆풒풖풆풏풄풚 = x 100 Total number of sampling units Total no.of individuals of a species in all 푨풃풖풏풅풂풏풄풆 = Total no.of quadrates in which species occurred Density value of species 푹풆풍풂풕풊풗풆 풅풆풏풔풊풕풚 = x 100 Sum of density value of all species Frequency value of species 푹풆풍풂풕풊풗풆 풇풓풆풒풖풆풏풄풚 = x 100 Sum of frequency value of all species Total basal area of the species 푹풆풍풂풕풊풗풆 풅풐풎풊풏풂풏풄풆 = x 100 Total basal area of all species Total no.of individuals of a species in all quadrates 푹풆풍풂풕풊풗풆 풂풃풖풏풅풂풏풄풆 = x 100 Total no.of quadrates in which species occurred 푰풎풑풐풓풕풂풏풄풆 푽풂풍풖풆 푰풏풅풆풙 (푰푽푰) = Relative Frequency + Relative Density + Relative Dominance Number of common species in two stands (relives) 푖.푒.A and B 푺풊풎풊풍풂풓풊풕풚 푰풏풅풆풙 (푺푰) = x 100 Relative Frequency + Relative Density + Relative Dominance RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The studied were conducted for vegetation assessment at Keshkal Valley in Kondagaon district in year 2016-17. The result of density, frequency, abundance, relative density,