Vegetation Characteristics of Tropical Forests of Andaman Islands

Abstract

In a vegetation study conducted in coastal and inland sites of North, Middle and South Andaman tropical forests, a total of 49 species belonging to 27 families were found. Species like Bruguiera gymnorrhiza, Ceriops tagal, Heritiera littoralis, Morinda citrifolia, Rhizophora apiculata, and R. mucronata were common in coastal forest, whereas Ficus hispida, Lagerstroemia hypoleuca and Pterocarpus dalbergioides were common in inland forests. The population density ranged from 195 (Middle Andaman; inland forest) to 822 plants ha^-1 (North Andaman; coastal forest) with their basal area from 12.44m² ha^-1 (South Andaman; inland forest) to 77.4m² ha^-1 (North Andaman; coastal forest). Inland forests (South Andaman) were found to have higher species diversity. The Shannon Wiener's diversity index ranged from 2.26 (South Andaman; coastal forest) to 3.04 (South Andaman; inland forest). Mean girth showed highest value (104.34cm) for inland forests (North Andaman). Size variation was greatest in inland forest of South Andaman showing the highest degree of asymmetry.