TITLE:
Species Composition and Stand Structure of Primary and Secondary Moist Evergreen Forests in the Tanintharyi Nature Reserve (TNR) Buffer Zone, Myanmar
AUTHORS:
Idd Idd Shwe Zin, Ralph Mitlöhner
KEYWORDS:
Tree Density, Basal Area, Floristic Similarity Index, Floristic Composition, Moist Evergreen Forest
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Forestry,
Vol.10 No.4,
October
30,
2020
ABSTRACT: The habitat structure and floristic composition examined for this study are of great importance,
providing a scientific baseline of information for developing a biodiversity
database and in supporting crucial information for the management
decision-making process of the buffer zones. The primary objective of this
study was to examine the current status of species composition and stand
structure of moist evergreen forests distributed in the TNR buffer zone. Forest
inventory was conducted in the primary moist evergreen forest (~1 ha) and
secondary moist evergreen forest (~1 ha). In the TNR buffer zone, 83 species
belonging to 31 families in the primary moist evergreen forest and 86 species
belonging to 32 families in the secondary moist evergreen forest were found.
The most dominant families in the primary moist evergreen forest were Dipterocarpaceae,
Sapindaceae, Meliaceae, Myrtaceae, and Myristicaceae; at species level; this forest was composed
of Nephelium lappaceum, Myristica malabarica, Nephelium laurium, Aglaia andamanica,
and Diospyros peregrine.
The most dominant families in the secondary moist evergreen forest were
Myrtaceae, Sapindaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Myristicaceae, and Lauraceae, while Nephelium lappaceum, Syzygium claviflorum, Syzygium sp-1, Eugenia oblate, and Myristica angustifolia were the most
dominant at the species level. The results of S?rensen’s similarity index based
on common species (Ks) and the similarity index based on species dominance (Kd)
were observed at about 55% and 75% between the primary and secondary moist
evergreen forests. The basal area (51.39 m2.ha-1) of
the primary moist evergreen forest was higher than that (44.50 m2.ha-1) of
the secondary moist evergreen forest. Between these two forest types, the
Shannon-Wiener, the Simpson and the Evenness indices were not significantly
different at (p ere 910 (±184) and 991 (±183).
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