US EPA

4500447 

Journal Article 

Ecological studies on Myristica swamp forests of Uttara Kannada, Karnataka, India 

Bhat, PR; Kaveriappa, KM 

2009 

1 

Tropical Ecology
ISSN: 0564-3295 

50 

2 

329-337 

WOS:000269413300013 

Ecological;studies on Myristica swamp forests in Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka state in India with reference to floristic composition, structure, diversity and edaphic factors were conducted. Transect method was employed by laying out sample plots in Kathalkane Reserve Forests of Western Ghats and enumeration of all trees >= 10 cm diameter at breast height was made. Sixty three species, including one unidentified species of trees and bamboos belonging to twenty six families with DBH >10 cm were recorded. The forest is of evergreen type dominanted by Myristica fatua var. magnifica, Gymnacranthera farquhariana, Hopea ponga and Dipterocarpus indicus. Myristicaceae dominated the swamps with maximum Importance Value Index of 102.63 represented mainly by G. farquhariana (57.83) and M. fatua var. magnifica (38.49). The forest floor is covered by knee roots. The physico-chemical properties of the soil of swamp were also determined. Endemism was fairly high, with 23 species endemic to the Western Ghats and ten species were rare and threatened. Soils were silty and sandy loam of acidic to neutral pH and moderate organic carbon levels. Soil nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium contents were in the ranges 0.64-1.26%, also slightly lower than other forest ecosystems of the region. 

Edaphic factors; floristic diversity; Myristica swamp; soil nutrients; vegetation