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D. S. Gandhi and S. Sundarapandian
1 Introduction
Tropical forests are biodiversity-rich centres on earth and harbour approximately
two-thirds of all living organisms (Hughes et al. 1997) including 96% of tree species
(Poorter et al. 2015). The tropical forest biome comprises of diverse ecosystems
between Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn and spans across the Americas,
Asia, Africa and Australia, and has the richest biodiversity with a unique environment.
According to Miles et al. (2006), dry deciduous forest covers 6% (1,048,700 km
2 )
of the tropics. Around 40% of the earth’s subtropical area is occupied by open or
closed forest and of which 42% are tropical dry deciduous forest, 33% are moist
forest and 25% are wet forest (Murphy and Lugo 1986). About 54.2% of the world’s
tropical dry forests are in South America and the rest are equally distributed in North
and Central America, Eurasia, Africa, Southeast Asia and Australasia (Miles et al.
2006). In southeast Asia, 30% of forests in the mainland are classified as dry forest
(Blackie et al. 2014).
Tropical forests of Asia, especially Eastern and Western Ghats are under threat
owing to human activities and are consequently, being replaced by inferior species
(Bahuguna 1999). Tropical rain forests are extensively studied compared to dry
forests (Losos and Leigh 2004). Although tropical dry deciduous forests are highly
degraded and converted to other land uses, they had little attraction among the
researchers and the general public (Bullock et al. 1995; Rundel et al. 1995). Tropical
dry deciduous forests are rich in economically important species and are known to
provide high potential timber revenue (Mohapatra and Tewari 2005). Hence, there is
a growing interest on dry forests in the recent past (Miles et al. 2006). Dry deciduous
forests are one of the most exploited ecosystems in the world (Murphy and Lugo
1986; Janzen 1988; Gentry 1992), as they are more prone to fire in the dry season
(Giriraj et al. 2010). Documentation of biodiversity patterns is essential to prioritize
areas for conservation programmes (Villasenor et al. 2007). Information on structure
and composition of tropical dry deciduous forests is needed to conserve and restore
these threatened ecosystems. The quantitative floristic analysis of the forest provides
the necessary information for future planning and management (Phillips et al. 2003).
India, being a mega-diverse country, covers about 2% of the global forest area and
is one of the richest repositories due to the presence of different types of vegetation
and they hold unique flora and fauna. Tropical forest in India occupies 86% of the
total forest cover (Singh and Singh 1988), of which 54% are dry deciduous, 37%
are moist deciduous and the remaining is wet-/semi-evergreen (Kaul and Sharma
1971). The Eastern Ghats are a fragmented hill-chain, starting from Odisha to Tamil
Nadu. Studies exploring the structure and composition of forests in Eastern Ghats of
Tamil Nadu are limited (Kadavul and Parthasarathy 1999a, b, 2000; Chittibabu and
Parthasarathy 2000a, b, 2001; Jayakumar et al. 2002; Pragasan and Parthasarathy
2010; Muthumperumal and Parthasarathy 2013; Sundarapandian et al. 2015). However, studies on plant diversity in tropical dry deciduous forest Sathanur reserve forest
is almost nil except for preliminary result output of us (Gandhi and Sundarapandian
2014a, b). Hence present study is intended to study the vegetation structure and
D. S. Gandhi and S. Sundarapandian
1 Introduction
Tropical forests are biodiversity-rich centres on earth and harbour approximately
two-thirds of all living organisms (Hughes et al. 1997) including 96% of tree species
(Poorter et al. 2015). The tropical forest biome comprises of diverse ecosystems
between Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn and spans across the Americas,
Asia, Africa and Australia, and has the richest biodiversity with a unique environment.
According to Miles et al. (2006), dry deciduous forest covers 6% (1,048,700 km
2 )
of the tropics. Around 40% of the earth’s subtropical area is occupied by open or
closed forest and of which 42% are tropical dry deciduous forest, 33% are moist
forest and 25% are wet forest (Murphy and Lugo 1986). About 54.2% of the world’s
tropical dry forests are in South America and the rest are equally distributed in North
and Central America, Eurasia, Africa, Southeast Asia and Australasia (Miles et al.
2006). In southeast Asia, 30% of forests in the mainland are classified as dry forest
(Blackie et al. 2014).
Tropical forests of Asia, especially Eastern and Western Ghats are under threat
owing to human activities and are consequently, being replaced by inferior species
(Bahuguna 1999). Tropical rain forests are extensively studied compared to dry
forests (Losos and Leigh 2004). Although tropical dry deciduous forests are highly
degraded and converted to other land uses, they had little attraction among the
researchers and the general public (Bullock et al. 1995; Rundel et al. 1995). Tropical
dry deciduous forests are rich in economically important species and are known to
provide high potential timber revenue (Mohapatra and Tewari 2005). Hence, there is
a growing interest on dry forests in the recent past (Miles et al. 2006). Dry deciduous
forests are one of the most exploited ecosystems in the world (Murphy and Lugo
1986; Janzen 1988; Gentry 1992), as they are more prone to fire in the dry season
(Giriraj et al. 2010). Documentation of biodiversity patterns is essential to prioritize
areas for conservation programmes (Villasenor et al. 2007). Information on structure
and composition of tropical dry deciduous forests is needed to conserve and restore
these threatened ecosystems. The quantitative floristic analysis of the forest provides
the necessary information for future planning and management (Phillips et al. 2003).
India, being a mega-diverse country, covers about 2% of the global forest area and
is one of the richest repositories due to the presence of different types of vegetation
and they hold unique flora and fauna. Tropical forest in India occupies 86% of the
total forest cover (Singh and Singh 1988), of which 54% are dry deciduous, 37%
are moist deciduous and the remaining is wet-/semi-evergreen (Kaul and Sharma
1971). The Eastern Ghats are a fragmented hill-chain, starting from Odisha to Tamil
Nadu. Studies exploring the structure and composition of forests in Eastern Ghats of
Tamil Nadu are limited (Kadavul and Parthasarathy 1999a, b, 2000; Chittibabu and
Parthasarathy 2000a, b, 2001; Jayakumar et al. 2002; Pragasan and Parthasarathy
2010; Muthumperumal and Parthasarathy 2013; Sundarapandian et al. 2015). However, studies on plant diversity in tropical dry deciduous forest Sathanur reserve forest
is almost nil except for preliminary result output of us (Gandhi and Sundarapandian
2014a, b). Hence present study is intended to study the vegetation structure and