A Study on Community Structure and Diversity of a Sub-tropical Forest of Garhwal Himalayas

Abstract

Two study sites selected on the basis of the disturbance gradient at the elevation from 900 to 1,300 m asl in the sub-tropical zone of District Pauri of the Garhwal Himalayas were studied for the structure and diversity of the forest. Density, total basal cover, importance value index, similarity index, concentration of dominance, diversity index, beta diversity and equitability index were analysed for tree, shrub, sapling and seedling layers of the forests and compared for the both the sites. The forest sites showed differences in analytic characters. The concentration of dominance and the index of diversity were higher for the mildly disturbed forest site.