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Vegetation and gap dynamics of a tropical wet evergreen forest in the Western Ghats of Kerala, India

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

U. M. Chandrashekara  and
P. S. Ramakrishnan
U. M. Chandrashekara
Affiliation:
School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi-110067, India
P. S. Ramakrishnan*
Affiliation:
School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi-110067, India
*
2To whom all correspondence should be addressed.
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Abstract

The wet evergreen forest of Nelliampathy in the Western Ghats of Kerala in India is a mixed forest with a high species diversity and basal cover. In this relatively undisturbed ecosystem, canopy gaps are largely formed through single tree fall, but gaps through branch fall, crown fall, standing dead trees or multiple tree fall also occur. Canopy gap formation is more (over 82% of the total gaps created) during the monsoon season. The mean number of gaps formed in this forest is 1.13 ha−1 y−1 and the turnover rate is 83 years. The majority of the gaps created (over 70%) are of smaller size (≥ 100 m2). In this forest, while some top canopy tree species (those capable of exceeding 25 m in height at maturity) such as Palaquium ellipticum and Mesua nagassarium are well represented in seedling, sapling and mature tree stages, others like Aglaia exstipulata and Mastixia arborea are observed only as saplings and/or mature trees with no seedling populations. The possible reasons for these two types of regeneration behaviour by top canopy tree species in the context of canopy gap size and seasonality in gap formation are discussed.

Keywords

forest gap dynamicsforest species diversityrainforest regenerationvegetation structureIndia (Western Ghats)wet evergreen forest
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 10 , Issue 3 , August 1994 , pp. 337 - 354
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

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