Assessment of Stand Structure, Composition and Diversity of Woody Flora in the Biodiversity Heritage Site (BHS) of GKVK, UAS, Bengaluru

Abstract

An inventory study was conducted to quantify the stand structure, composition and diversity of the woody plants in the Biodiversity Heritage Site of GKVK, UAS, Bengaluru. It is divided into three patches and further divided into 14 areas. Random quadrat sampling was used to assess the parameters. A total of 96 species belonging to 27 families were documented. Fabaceae was the most dominant family covering a total of 32 tree species. The diversity indices of the study area were 3.32, 0.93 and 0.73 for Shannon-Wiener index (H'), Simpson diversity index (1-D) and Evenness index (J') respectively. Area E4 and C showed 39% of similarity of tree species according to Jaccard’s similarity index. Stand density and basal area of the study area was 356 stems ha–1 and 20.58 m2 ha–1 respectively. Mangifera indica was dominant species among all the tree species in the study area with an IVI value of 56.57 and with a density of 47.54 stems ha–1. Girth class distribution showed inverse J shape pattern for all three patches and even for the entire study area. Botanical Garden (Area D) showed greater diversity with better distribution of species, stem density and with good population structure (reverse J shape) and composition with a greater number of individuals at higher girth classes compared to the other patches.