Phytosociological Studies of Tree Species for long-term monitoring and management

Abstract : Tree species diversity studies help to understand the species composition and determine the information for forest conservation. The current workwas conducted in Salumarada Thimmakka Park for the assessment of tree species composition. Random sampling using quadrants was employed for the study. This study assesses the park’s biodiversity index to provide a detailed assessment of its ecological health, species richness and distribution. This researchused quantitative methodologies, such as Shannon-Weiner and Simpson’s Diversity Indices, to assess species abundance and evenness across the ecosystems.The objective is to study composition and diversity of tree species. Tree species and families were identified, a total of 240 species of trees distributed into 8 families were found in all the quadrants and the dominant families were Fabaceae and Santalaceae. This work examined a number of well-known diversity indexes, i.e., Shannon index (H’), Simpson Diversity Index (D), Pielou Evenness Index (J), Margalef’s Diversity indicator (R), Berger–Parker Index (d), Menhinick index (D Menhinick), Brillouin’s Diversity Index (Hb), McIntosh Diversity Index (DM) and IVI, Santalum album has the highest IVI (54.23) and Mangifera indica has the lowest IVI (4.6),Quadrant 4 showed highest biodiversity compared to other three quadrants.Variations in species composition demonstrate the significance of conservation efforts to safeguard native species and improve ecosystem stability. This study emphasises the ecological relevance of Salumarada Thimmakka Park and provides baseline data needed for long-term monitoring and management.