Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Tree population changes in a tropical dry evergreen forest of south India over a decade (1992–2002)

  • Published:
Biodiversity & Conservation Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Changes in species composition and density of trees >10 cm gbh in a tropical dry evergreen forest in Puthupet, south India are interpreted for the period between 1992 and 2002. A 1-ha plot was inventoried in 1992 and was recensused in 2002. During the 10-year interval tree taxa diversity as well as stand density increased, but the basal area value decreased. Tree species richness increased by 21% (from 24 to 29 species) by an addition of eight species and local extinction of three species. The tree density increased just by eight individuals (from 1330 stems ha−1 in 1992 to 1338 ha−1 in 2002), but the basal area decreased by 8% (from 37.5 to 34.5 m2 ha−1). Many species (11 numbers) have increased in abundance rather than decreased. Many surviving species seem to have considerable stability in abundance at the local scale. The density of smaller stems (10 29 cm gbh) increased by 15.3%, while that of the larger trees decreased drastically (81.6%). Ninety percent of the missing stems were from the middlestorey of the forest. Tree density changes among the three ecological guilds revealed a decrease in stem density and an increase in basal area in the lowerstorey; while the middlestorey exhibited a reverse trend. Family-wise, tree density changes revealed that the majority of families (67%) showed an increase in stem density. Long-term studies on tree population changes are essential to estimate tree mortality and recruitment rates, which will provide a greater insight in tropical forest dynamics.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. D.M. Bhat M.B. Naik S.G. Patagar G.T. Hegde Y.G. Kanade G.N. Hegde et al. (2000) ArticleTitleForest dynamics in tropical rain forests of Uttara Kannada district in Western Ghats, India Current Science 79 975–985

    Google Scholar 

  2. F. Blasco P. Legris (1973) ArticleTitleDry evergreen forests of Point Calimere and Marakanam Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 70 279–294

    Google Scholar 

  3. S. Bunyavejchewin (1999) ArticleTitleStructure and dynamics in seasonal dry evergreen forest in northeastern Thailand Journal of Vegetation Science 10 787–792

    Google Scholar 

  4. D.A. Clark D.B. Clark (1984) ArticleTitleSpacing dynamics of tropical rain forest tree: evaluation of the Janzen-Connell model American Naturalist 124 769–788 Occurrence Handle10.1086/284316

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. J.H. Connell J.G. Tracey L.J. Webb (1984) ArticleTitleCompensatory recruitmentgrowth and mortality as factors maintaining rain forest tree diversity Ecological Monographs 54 141–164

    Google Scholar 

  6. R. Condit S.P. Hubbell R.B. Foster (1992) ArticleTitleShort-term dynamics of a neotropical forest BioScience 42 822–828

    Google Scholar 

  7. F. Dallmeier J.A. Comiskey (1998) Forest biodiversity assessmentmonitoring and evaluation for adaptive management F. Dallmeier J.A. Comiskey (Eds) Forest Biodiversity ResearchMonitoring and Modeling: Conceptual Background and Old World Case Studies Parthenon Publishing Paris, France 529–540

    Google Scholar 

  8. J.M. Felfili (1995) ArticleTitleGrowthrecruitment and mortality in the Gama gallery forest in central Brazil over a six-year period (1985–1991) Journal of Tropical Ecology 11 67–83

    Google Scholar 

  9. J.M. Hellawell (1991) Development of rationale for monitoring F.B. Goldsmith (Eds) Monitoring for Conservation and Ecology. Conservation Biology Series 3 Chapman & Hall London 1–4

    Google Scholar 

  10. D.H. Janzen (1970) ArticleTitleHerbivores and the number of tree species in tropical forests American Naturalist 104 501–528 Occurrence Handle10.1086/282687

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. D.L. Kelly E.V.J. Tanner V. Kapos T.A. Dickinson G.A. Goodfriend P. Fairbrain (1988) ArticleTitleJamaican limestone forests: floristics, structure and environment of three examples along rainfall gradient Journal of Tropical Ecology 4 121–156

    Google Scholar 

  12. J.S. Lwanga T.M. Butynski T.T. Struhsaker (2000) ArticleTitleTree population dynamics in Kibale National Park, Uganda1975–1998 African Journal of Ecology 38 238–247

    Google Scholar 

  13. C.R. Margules M.P. Austin K.F. Davies J.A. Mayers A.O. Nicholls (1996) The design of programs to monitor forest biodiversity: lessons from the Wog Wog habitat fragmentation experiment F. Dallmeier J.A. Comiskey (Eds) Forest Biodiversity ResearchMonitoring and Modeling: Conceptual Background and Old World Case Studies Parthenon Publishing Paris, France 183–196

    Google Scholar 

  14. D.M. Newbery D.N. Kennedy G.H. Petol L. Madani C.E. Ridsdale (1999) ArticleTitlePrimary forest dynamics in lowland dipterocarp forest at Danum Valley, Malaysiaand the role of the understorey Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London 354 1763–1782 Occurrence Handle1:STN:280:DC%2BD3MrlvFehtA%3D%3D Occurrence Handle11605620

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. N. Parthasarathy R. Karthikeyan (1997) ArticleTitlePlant biodiversity inventory and conservation of two tropical dry evergreen forests on the Coromandel coastsouth India Biodiversity and Conservation 6 1063–1083

    Google Scholar 

  16. N. Parthasarathy P. Sethi (1997) ArticleTitleTree and liana species diversity and population structure in a tropical dry evergreen forest in south India Tropical Ecology 38 19–30

    Google Scholar 

  17. R.T. Pennington D.A. Prado C. Pendry (2000) ArticleTitleNeotropical seasonally dry forests and Quaternary vegetation changes Journal of Biogeography 27 261–273

    Google Scholar 

  18. O.L. Phillips A.H. Gentry (1994) ArticleTitleIncreasing turnover through time in tropical forests Science 263 954–958

    Google Scholar 

  19. O.L. Phillips P. Hall A.H. Gentry S.A. Sawyer R. Vasquez (1994) ArticleTitleDynamics and species richness of tropical rainforests Proceedings of the National Academy of Science USA 91 2805–2809 Occurrence Handle1:STN:280:DC%2BD3MrmtFCkug%3D%3D

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. R.B. Primack P. Hall (1992) ArticleTitleBiodiversity and forest change in Malaysian Borneo BioScience 42 829–837

    Google Scholar 

  21. J. Proctor J.M. Anderson P. Chai H.W. Vallack (1983) ArticleTitleEcological studies in four contrasting rainforests in Gunung Mulu National Park, Sarawak. I. Forest environmentforest structure and floristics Journal of Ecology 71 237–260

    Google Scholar 

  22. M.P. Ramanujam D. Kadamban (2001) ArticleTitlePlant biodiversity of two tropical dry evergreen forests in the Pondicherry region of south India and the role of belief systems in their conservation Biodiversity and Conservation 10 1203–1217

    Google Scholar 

  23. M.S. Reddy N. Parthasarathy (2003) ArticleTitleLiana diversity and distribution in four tropical dry evergreen forests on the Coromandel coast of south India Biodiversity and Conservation 12 1609–1627

    Google Scholar 

  24. D. Sheil R. May (1996) ArticleTitleMortality and recruitment rate evaluations in heterogeneous tropical forests Journal of Ecology 84 91–100

    Google Scholar 

  25. R. Sukumar H.S. Dattaraja H.S. Suresh J. Radhakrishnan R. Vasudeva S. Nirmala N.V. Joshi (1992) ArticleTitleLong-term monitoring of vegetation in a tropical deciduous forest in Mudumalaisouthern India Current Science 62 608–616

    Google Scholar 

  26. R. Sukumar H.S. Suresh H.S. Dattaraja N.V. Joshi (1988) Dynamics of a tropical deciduous forest: population changes (1988 through 1993) in a 50-hectare plot at Mudumalaisouthern India F. Dallmeier J.A. Comiskey (Eds) Forest Biodiversity ResearchMonitoring and Modeling: Conceptual Background and Old World Case Studies Parthenon Publishing Paris, France 495–506

    Google Scholar 

  27. M.D. Swaine D. Lieberman F.E. Putz (1987) ArticleTitleThe dynamics of tree populations in tropical forest: a review Journal of Tropical Ecology 3 359–366

    Google Scholar 

  28. R. Venkateswaran N. Parthasarathy (2003) ArticleTitleTropical dry evergreen forests on the Coromandel coast of India: structurecomposition and human disturbance Ecotropica 9 45–57

    Google Scholar 

  29. N. Visalakshi (1995) ArticleTitleVegetation analysis of two tropical dry evergreen forests in south India Tropical Ecology 36 117–127

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Salim Ali School of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Pondicherry University, Pondicherry, 605 014, India

    R. Venkateswaran & N. Parthasarathy

Authors
  1. R. Venkateswaran
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. N. Parthasarathy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to N. Parthasarathy.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Venkateswaran, R., Parthasarathy, N. Tree population changes in a tropical dry evergreen forest of south India over a decade (1992–2002). Biodivers Conserv 14, 1335–1344 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-004-9649-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-004-9649-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation