Book Description

Study of different kinds of plants, soil and climate and the quantitative analysis of vegetation structure and composition at the three VDCs of Siwalik hills of Ilam was undertaken. A total of 137 flowering plants and 9 pteridophytes belonging to 27 families of trees, 31 families of shrubs, 27 families of herbs and 7 families of ferns are reported. The tree diversity value was highest (2.235) from matured forests of Danabari (Sector II) and the least (2.021) from the regenerating forest of Chulachuli (Sector II). However, the species evenness was highest in sector III for shrub (0.183) and herb (0.128). The tree trunk volume was maximum (413623.13 m2ha-1) in case of matured forest at Danabari (Sector II). Shorea robusta, Terminalia alata and Semecarpus anacardium were the most dominant species in the entire study area. Sector I had the highest shrub and herb density of 1600 pl. ha-1 for Desmodium confertum and 4285.7 pl. ha-1 for Ageratum hustonianum respectively. Sector II has northern aspect and due to more precipitation record has rendered the land remain wet. The tree species of Semecarpus anacardium, Schima wallichi, some species of orchids along with various leguminous plants were recorded. The south facing sectors I and II were drier with more records of degraded land. The similarity index of tree species found in sectors I and II was recorded high (36.36). Soil present in sector III was found to be more acidic (pH 5.6). Organic matter and nitrogen content was higher in sectors II than that of sector I and III. Highest percolation capacity was found in the soil of sector I. Organic matter was positively correlated with nitrogen at the 0.05 level. As a whole, the vegetation was much more encouraging ecologically than expected from a distant observation.