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Effect of A Nitrogen-Fixing Actinorhizal Shrub on Herbaceous Vegetation in A Mixed Conifer Forest of Central Himalaya

Kiran Bargali1, Nidhi Rani Maurya1and S. S. Bargali1

DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.12944/CWE.10.3.27

In this study, we examined the effect of a nitrogen-fixing shrubCoriaria nepalensisWall on herb species composition, diversity and biomass. The effect was measured in terms of species richness, diversity and biomass of herb species in three sites varying inCoriariadensity viz. site 1 (lowCoriariadensity; 20 ha-1), site-2 (mediumCoriariadensity; 120 ha-1) and site-3 (highCoriariadensity 190 ha-1). Species richness was minimum at Site-1 (16 species), and maximum at site-2 (27 species).G. aparinedominated site-1 andArthraxon spsite 2和3. The individual herb density ranged between 0.40 - 42.40 m-2, and total herb density ranged between 138- 170.4 m-2and was maximum at site-2. Value for species richness (27) and Shannon Index (3.72) was highest for mediumCoriariadensity site and lowest for lowCoriariadensity site. Simpson Index ranged between 0.11 and 0.14 and was lowest for site-2(mediumCoriariadensity) indicating that at this the dominance was shared by many species. Along the gradient ofCoriariadensity, maximum biomass was recorded at site-3 with highestCoriariadensity and lowest at site-2 with mediumCoriariadensity. This may be due to the symbiotic nitrogen fixing ability ofCoriariathat improve the habitat quality. The facilitative effect ofC. nepalensisin terms of soil amelioration and herb growth can be used to regenerate degraded forest ecosystems.


Biomass; Coriaria; Density; Diversity; Facilitation; Species richness

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Bargali K, Maurya N R, Bargali S. S. Department of Botany, DSB Campus Kumaun University, Nainital-263001(Uttarakhand). Curr World Environ 2015;10(3) DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.12944/CWE.10.3.27

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Bargali K, Maurya N R, Bargali S. S. Department of Botany, DSB Campus Kumaun University, Nainital-263001(Uttarakhand). Available from://www.a-i-l-s-a.com/?p=13223


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Received: 2015-11-26
Accepted: 2015-12-07

Introduction

The herbaceous layer plays an important role in forest ecosystem; it contains the highest number of species and nutrient cycling (Gilliam, 2007; Jhariyaet al., 2013, Parihaaret al., 2014). This layer is also responsible for approximately 12% of the Gross Photosynthetic Production (GPP) of a forest ecosystem (Bargali and Bargali, 2000; Muller, 2003). Herbaceous vegetation also affect regeneration of trees therefore, has important implications for the regeneration of trees (Chandraet al., 1989; Kitturet al., 2014; Ranaet al., 2015). Species that have impacts on the distribution, amount and composition of resources in the environment either through their own physical structures or the artifacts they created are increasingly recognized as ecosystem engineers (Joneset al., 1994; Bargaliet al., 2014, 2015). As reviewed extensively by Joneset al., (1994), ecosystem engineers are a taxonomically diverse group, with representatives including vertebrates, invertebrates, algae, nonvascular plants and higher plants (especially woody species).

Low nitrogen supply is a limiting factor for plant growth in most terrestrial ecosystems. N-fixing plants therefore, have the potential to facilitate surrounding vegetation by increasing soil N levels.Coriaria nepalensis墙。是一种常见的本地shrub/under tree species of the Central Himalayan region between 1200 to 2500m elevations and is a successful colonizer of landslide-affected or freshly exposed rocky and eroded slopes. It is a nitrogen-fixing actinorhizal plant that forms root nodules with actinomyceteFrankia(Bargaliet al., 2003). The biological N-fixation in this species meets the relatively heavy demand for nitrogen in nutrient-poor degraded soils and can play key roles as ecosystem engineer by altering the physical environment beneath its canopy as well as characteristic of plant populations, communities and ecosystems (Shachaket al., 2008). It can also facilitate growth of associate plants therefore; can change the composition and structure of the forest.

In the present study, we examined whether herb species composition, diversity and biomass differed with increasing density of an actinorhizal shrubCoriaria nepalensisWall in a mixed conifer forest of Central Himalaya, India.

Materials and Methods

The study area Nainital is located between 29o36’56”-29o36’79” N latitude and 79o46’03”-79o46’19” E longitude between 1600- 1850m above mean sea level in the Central Himalaya. This Site experienced a heavy land slide that occurred about 75-80 year ago (based on information collected from locals). For detailed study the area was divided into three sub sites (each with 1 ha area) varying inCoriariacolonisation in terms of density viz. site-1(lowCoriariadensity; 20 ind. ha-1), site-2 (mediumCoriariadensity; 120 ind. ha-1) and site-3 (highCoriariadensity; 190 ind. ha-1). The study area was dominated by conifers likePinus roxburghii,Cupressus torulosa(Fig. 1).

Figure 1
Figure 1a: Tree layer vegetation
Figure 1b: Herb layer vegetation

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The climate of Nainital is characterized by long-cold often snowy winter and short summer. It is temperate and monsoon type (Singh and Singh, 1992) and the year has four distinct seasons viz., monsoon (July to September), post-monsoon (October to November), winter (December to January) and summer (April to mid-June). Climatic data for 2008–2009 were obtained from the State Observatory at Nainital. The annual average rainfall was 1853 mm of, 60% of which was occur in the rainy season and the mean daily temperature ranged from -2.0°C to 30.5°C (Source: ARIES, Nainital) (Fig. 2).

Fig 2. Metrological data of the study site 2012-2014 (Source: ARIES, Nainital)


Figure 2: Metrological data of the study
site 2013-2014 (Source: ARIES, Nainital)

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The phytosociological analysis of herb species was conducted by placing 30 quadrats of 1m x 1m size at each site. The size and number of samples was determined following Saxena and Singh, (1980).Grasses were studied through tiller analysis. Each tiller of grass was considered as an individual plant and creeping plants were counted on the basis of presence of functional roots (Saxena and Singh, 1980)). The vegetational data were quantitatively analysed for abundance, density and frequency (Curtis and Mc Intosh, 1950). The Provenance value (PV) of herbs was determined as the sum of the relative frequency and relative density (Curtis, 1959). The ratio of abundance to frequency indicates regular distribution if < 0.025, random distribution between 0.025 to 0.05 and contagious distribution if >0.05 (Cottam and Curtis, 1956). Similarity between pairs of stands was calculated following (Muller – Dombois and Ellenberg, 1974) using species richness in different sites:

formula

where, C is the common species in comparison sites; A the total number of species in site A and B the total number of species in site B.

Species diversity for each site was determined with the Shannon and Wiener, (1963) index:

formula

where, Ni is the density of species i and N is the total density of all species in that stand.

Concentration of dominance was measured by Simpson's index (Simpson, 1949),

formula

where, Ni and N were the same as for the Shannon-Wiener information function. The calculations of diversity index and concentration of dominance were made separately for herbs. Species richness was determined following Whittaker, (1972) by the total number of species in a given community and the equitability was calculated by Pielou, (1966). Dominance diversity curves (Whittaker, 1975) were employed to interpret the community organization in terms of resource share or niche space.

Results andDiscussion

A total of 31 species distributed in 16 families were recorded from the study site. Family asteraceae had the maximum number of species (19.3% of the total species) while 12 families were represented by a single species each (Table 1). Site-1 had 16 species and 10 families, site-2 27 species and 18 families and site site-3 had 22 species and 13 species. Site-2 had the highest number of unique species (07) while site-1 had no unique species (Table 2). Twelve species were common to all the sites and accounted for 38.7% of the total species.G. aparinedominated site-1 andArthraxon spsite 2和3.On the basis of dominant and co-dominant species, site-1 representedG. aparine- C. versicolorcommunity site-2 and site-3 representedArthraxon -C. rotunduscommunity. On the basis of percent similarity site-1 and site-2 was 34.88% similar, site-1 and site-3 was 36.84% similar and site-2 and site-3 was 34.69% similar in species composition.

The individual herb density ranged between 0.40 - 42.40 m-2, and total herb density ranged between 138- 170.4 m-2. The values are comparable with those reported earlier by Chandraet al.,2010 for forest of Garhwal Himalaya. At site-1 the total herb density was 159.2 m-2and the individual herb density ranged from 0.8 herbs m-2forj . procumbensto 42 herbs m-2forG. aprine.A/F ratio varied between 0.03 and 0.29.Nine species (G.nepalense,j . procumbens, A. bidentata, O. corniculata, E. adenophorum, A. annua, C. rotundus, C. dactylonandP. gerardiana) showed the random distribution and remaining species showed the contagious distribution.

Table 1: Provenence value of herbaceous species as affected byCoriariadensity.

Species

Family

Coriariadensity

Low

Medium

High

牛膝bidentata抱

Amaranthaceae

9.22

11.93

18.83

Ajuga bracteosa墙。ex Benth.

Lamiaceae

-

1.98

2.66

Artemisia annuaLinn.

菊科

12.84

5.74

2.08

Arthraxon spThunb.

Poaceae

14.39

35.49

36.85

Bidens pilosaL.

菊科

14.78

13.10

13.23

Cardamine impatiens Linn.

Brassicaceae

-

-

9.95

Cerastium vulgatumL.

Rosaceae

-

2.22

-

Clematis buchananianaD.C

Ranunculaceae

-

1.98

2.08

Craniotome versicolor Reichb.

Lamiaceae

32.21

22.45

17.33

Cynodon dactylon(L.) Pers.

Poaceae

5.49

1.98

-

Cyperus rotundusL.

Cyperaceae

18.97

26.55

24.92

Dioscorea deltoideaKunth.

Dioscoreaceae

-

3.39

-

Erigeron bellidiodesL.

菊科

-

1.98

10.24

Eupatorium adenophorumSpreng.

菊科

8.96

12.85

7.97

Fragaria vescaLinn.

Rosaceae

-

3.50

-

Galium aparineL.

Rubiaceae

39.54

3.39

2.08

Galium elegans墙。ex Roxb.

Rubiaceae

7.10

4.80

-

Geranium nepalenseSweet

Geraniaceae

14.45

3.39

2.37

Gerbera gossypina(Royle) Beauv.

菊科

-

1.75

2.66

Justicia procumbens L. var simplex(D.Don)

Acanthaceae

2.12

7.36

5.89

Lapidagathis cristataNees

Acanthaceae

2.87

5.85

6.23

Micromeria biflora(Buch.-Ham.ex D.Don Benth.

Lamiaceae

4.48

1.98

2.66

Oenothera roseaAit.

Onagraceae

-

1.75

-

Origanum vulgareL.

Lamiaceae

-

-

14.30

Oxalis corniculataL.

Oxalidaceae

8.11

13.10

2.08

Potentilla gerardiana Lindl.ex Lehm.

Rosaceae

4.48

-

2.37

Rubia cordifoliaL.

Rubiaceae

-

-

6.47

Selaginella sp.

Selaginellaceae

-

6.21

-

Tridax procumbens L.

菊科

-

1.75

6.81

Veronica beccabunga L.

Plantaginaceae

-

3.50

-

Viola canescens墙。ex Roxb.

Violaceae

-

1.75

-


At site-2 the total herb density was170.40 m-2and the individual herb density ranged from0.40 m-2forV. canescens, T. procumbens, G.gossypina, and O.roseato 42.40 m-2forArthraxon sp. A/Fratio varied between 0.10 and 2.00, all the species showed the contagious distribution. At site-3 the total herb density was138.0 herbs m-2and the individual herb density ranged from0.40 m-2forG.aparine, A. annua, C.buchananiana, R. cordifoliaand 33.6 m-2forArthraxon sp., A/F ratio varied between0.03 and 0.93.L. cristatashowed random distribution while remaining species showed contagious distribution. In the present study, maximum number of herb species were contagiously distributed as reported for other Himalyan forest by Singh and Singh, (1992); Pande, (2012); Bargaliet al.,(2013).

Dominance diversity curves (on the basis of PV) have been drawn to interpret the community organization in term of resource share and niche space (Fig 3). At each site, two or three species indicated dominance while rest of the species showed relatively greater equitable share of resources.

Analysis of variance indicated that the differences in species richness, Shannon index, Simpson index, evenness due toCoriariadensity were significant (Table 4). Value for species richness (27) and Shannon Index (3.72) was highest for mediumCoriariadensity site and lowest for lowCoriariadensity site (Fig 4). Simpson Index ranged between 0.11 and 0.14 and lowest for site-2(mediumCoriariadensity) indicating that at this the dominance was shared by many species (Fig 4). Equitability also followed the same trend.

Herb LayerBiomass

At site-1 total herb biomass was 439.22 gm-2of which 264.04 gm-2was above ground and 175.18 gm-2was below ground (Table 4).C. versicolorcontributed the highest biomass (102.4 gm-2) whileP. girardianacontributed lowest biomass (0.12 gm-2). At site-2 herb layer biomass was 312.57 gm-2of which 239.39 gm-2was above ground and 73.06 gm-2was below ground. Maximum biomass was contributed byArthraxon sp.(157.72 gm-2) and minimum biomass was contributed byG. gossypinaandV. canescens(0.01 gm-2).

Fig 3. Dominance diversity curves of herb species across the three study sites.


Figure 3: Dominance diversity curves of
herb species across the three study sites.

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Herb layer total biomass at site-3 was 443.65 gm-2, of which 329.74 gm-2was above ground and 130.41 gm-2was below ground (Table 4). Among species, maximum biomass was contributed byArthraxon sp.(108.19 gm-2) and minimum biomass was contributedG. aparine(0.02 gm-2). Along the gradient ofCoriariadensity, maximum biomass was recorded at site-3 with highestCoriariadensity and lowest at site-2 with mediumCoriariadensity (Table 4). This may be due to the symbiotic nitrogen fixing ability ofCoriariathat improve the habitat quality.

Fig 4. Herbaceous species diversity at three sites varying in Coriaria density.


Figure 4: Herbaceous species diversity
at three sites varying inCoriariadensity.

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Table 2: Biomass (gm-2) of different component of herbs species in mixed conifer forest as affected byCoriariadensity.

Species

Biomass

Coriariadensity

Low

Medium

High

Achyranthes

D

4.40

10.00

11.20

AGB

3.61

8.40

26.99

BGB

2.99

8.30

30.46

Total

6.60

16.70

57.45

Ajuga bracteosa

D

-

0.80

1.20

AGB

0.19

0.26

BGB

0.19

0.25

Total

0.38

0.51

Artemisia annua

D

7.60

7.20

0.40

AGB

9.88

2.30

0.48

BGB

18.77

0.50

0.99

Total

28.65

2.80

1.47

Arthraxon sp.

D

15.20

42.40

33.60

AGB

13.38

157.72

108.19

BGB

4.41

21.62

17.14

Total

17.79

179.34

125.33

Bidens pilosa

D

18.40

12.00

8.40

AGB

0.92

0.84

4.87

BGB

0.36

0.36

1.59

Total

1.28

1.20

6.46

Cardamine impatiens

D

-

-

8.80

AGB

10.56

BGB

7.48

Total

18.04

Cerastium vulgatum

D

-

1.20

-

AGB

0.61

BGB

0.41

Total

1.02

Clematis buchananiana

D

-

0.80

0.40

AGB

0.03

1.64

BGB

0.03

0.96

Total

0.06

2.60

Craniotome versicolor

D

25.60

17.60

11.60

AGB

102.4

21.29

17.75

BGB

106.88

19.89

23.89

Total

209.28

41.18

41.64

Cynodon dactylon

D

3.60

0.80

AGB

5.45

0.04

BGB

1.44

0.12

Total

6.89

0.16

Cyperus rotundus

D

14.80

22.00

19.60

AGB

6.07

24.20

39.00

6.82

45.82

BGB

6.66

10.12

Total

12.73

34.32

Dioscorea deltoidea

D

-

3.30

-

AGB

3.52

BGB

3.52

Total

7.04

Erigeron bellidioides

D

-

0.80

9.20

AGB

1.54

40.11

BGB

0.37

10.21

Total

1.91

50.32

Eupatorium adenophorum

D

4.00

6.40

3.60

AGB

57.44

9.98

32.65

BGB

19.84

1.60

5.51

Total

77.28

11.58

38.16

Fragaria vesca

D

-

0.80

-

AGB

0.06

BGB

0.02

Total

0.08

Galium aparine

D

42.40

3.20

0.40

AGB

30.10

0.03

0.02

BGB

5.80

0.03

0.01

Total (gm-2)

35.90

0.06

0.03

Galium elegans

D

3.60

5.60

-

AGB (gm-2)

30.10

1.34

BGB

5.80

0.61

Total

35.90

1.95

Geranium nepalense

D

7.60

3.20

0.80

AGB

2.43

0.22

0.30

BGB

0.73

0.22

0.11

Total

3.16

0.44

0.41

Gerbera gossypina

D

-

0.40

1.20

AGB

0.01

1.69

BGB

0.004

14.81

Total

0.014

16.50

Justicia simplex

D

0.80

4.80

3.20

AGB

0.29

2.69

1.63

BGB

0.76

2.59

1.69

Total

1.05

5.28

3.32

Lapidagathis cristata

D

2.00

4.80

1.20

AGB

0.72

1.00

0.80

BGB

0.40

0.67

0.46

Total

1.12

1.67

1.26

Micromeria biflora

D

2.00

0.80

1.20

AGB

0.40

0.02

1.07

BGB

0.08

0.01

0.12

Total

0.48

0.03

1.19

Oenothera rosea

D

-

0.40

-

AGB

0.10

BGB

0.04

Total

0.14

Origanum vulgare

D

-

-

14.80

AGB

34.04

BGB

6.05

Total

40.09

Oxalis corniculata

D

5.20

12.00

0.40

AGB

0.73

3.00

0.08

BGB

0.16

1.56

0.004

Total

0.89

4.56

0.084

Potentilla gerardiana

D

2.00

-

0.80

AGB

0.12

1.01

BGB

0.10

0.68

Total

0.22

1.69

Rubia cordifolia

D

-

-

4.00

AGB

6.40

BGB

1.08

Total

7.48

Selaginella sp

D

-

8.00

-

AGB

0.24

BGB

0.24

Total

0.48

Tridax procumbens

D

-

0.40

2.00

AGB

0.01

0.20

BGB

0.01

0.10

Total

0.02

0.30

Veronica beccabunga

D

-

0.40

-

AGB

0.01

BGB

0.03

Total

0.04

Viola canescens

D

-

0.40

-

AGB

0.004

BGB

0.004

Total

0.008


Conclusion

The herb layer vegetation is a major component for any forest ecosystem. It is critical to many system ecological processes by altering nutrient cycles, protecting erosion and contributing to the communities diversity and are considered as good ecological indicators of forest health. In the present study, the species richness, density and biomass of herbaceous species were remarkably high in site with mediumCoriariadensity indicating thatCoriariaprovide favourable microsites on degraded forests and facilitate the colonization and growth of herb species. This nursing behavior ofCoriariacan be used to restore degraded forest ecosystems of Central Himalaya.

Acknowledgment

Financial support from ICSSR (F.No. 02/66/2014-15/RPR), New Delhi is gratefully acknowledged.

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