Abstract
Present study deals with the certain soil and vegetation characteristics of reserve forest occurring in the Nainital (2000-2050 m) district of Kumaon in Central Himalaya in temperate region. Vegetational analysis for tree layer was carried out by quadrat method, the forest tree composition was divided into three categories, viz. Seedlings, saplings and trees. The number of tree, the density, frequency, abundance, A/F ratio, basal area and important value index (IVI) of the study sites were also reported. Total 17 tree species were present. The total density ranged from 323.2-1200 ind. ha-1 for seedlings, 122.6-583.3 ind. ha-1 for saplings and 42.9-170.1 ind. ha-1 for trees in all sites of reserve forest. The total average basal area of reserve forest ranged from 6.1-8.5, 21.1-33.8 and 32.7-153.8 m2 ha-1 respectively for seedlings, saplings and trees. The soil texture for coarse gravel ranged from 22.0-56.2%, sand 33.9-56.7%, silt 2.7-7.1% and clay 5.9-14.2% in the reserve forest. Soil bulk density varied from 0.95-1.20 gm cm-3, however the soil porosity and pH ranged from 52.8-64.2% and 5.5-6.5, respectively.
Publisher
Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh
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