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Influence of grazing and soil conditions on secondary savanna vegetation in India
Author(s) -
Pandey C. B.,
Singh J. S.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
journal of vegetation science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1654-1103
pISSN - 1100-9233
DOI - 10.2307/3235901
Subject(s) - grazing , detrended correspondence analysis , vegetation (pathology) , environmental science , species richness , biomass (ecology) , ecological succession , ecology , canopy , plant community , agronomy , biology , medicine , pathology
. Savanna vegetation and pertinent soil features were studied on 43 sites in a dry tropical forest region of India. Grazing intensity ranged from 0.68 to 0.98. Soil moisture was positively related to the proportion of fine soil particles (< 0.1 mm), and the latter decreased while the proportion of coarse particles (2.0‐0.5 mm) increased with increasing grazing intensity. Canopy biomass ranged from 28 to 104 g/m 2 in grazed communities and from 230 to 337 g /m 2 in ungrazed communities and was positively related to vegetation cover which ranged between 30–72 % in grazed and 68 ‐ 91 % in ungrazed communities. Vegetation cover was negatively related to grazing intensity. Species richness and diversity were highest at low grazing intensity. Using community coefficients and Detrended Correspondence Analysis, the grazed stands were clustered into six and the ungrazed ones into three communities. The grazed communities were recognised as degradation stages and the ungrazed ones as recovery stages. Only five grass species, in various combinations were able to dominate in one of the different stages. Evidently the harsh climatic conditions (high temperatures, high variability in rainfall and a long dry period) in the region permit only a few species already adapted to these conditions to participate in the succession.