Effects of Slope Aspect on Tree and Shrub Diversity of Lesser Himalaya of Garhwal Region, Uttarakhand, India.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55863/ijees.2024.0066Keywords:
Biodiversity conservation, CorrelationAbstract
A research study was conducted in the Garhwal region of the lesser Himalaya to explore the impact of topographical
aspects on vegetation species diversity. The research was conducted for two years, from January 2021 to December
2022. Randomly placed sampling plots of 20 x 20 m were used for trees and 5 x 5m for shrubs in different slope
directions (E, NE, N, NW, W, SW, S, SE) for vegetation analysis. The study revealed the presence of 28 tree
species and 17 shrub species. The north-western slope aspect had the highest diversity of tree species (H’=2.14),
while the south-western slope aspect had the highest number of shrub species (H’=2.06). The CD values for
trees in the south-western slope aspect (0.41) and shrubs in the northern slope aspect (0.23) were the highest.
The study found that an area’s topographical aspects significantly impact plants’ diversity and spatial distribution.
For trees, the north-western slope aspect had the highest evenness value (0.86) and the western slope aspect had
the highest species richness (2.92). On the other hand, for shrubs, the northern slope aspect had the highest
evenness value (0.96), and the north-eastern slope aspect had the highest species richness (2.18). In conclusion,
the north-western slope aspect was more diverse for trees, while the south-western slope aspect was more diverse
for shrubs.
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