TITLE:
Floristic Composition, Diversity and Stand Structure of Tropical Forests in Popa Mountain Park
AUTHORS:
Yu Ya Aye, Savent Pampasit, Chanin Umponstira, Kanita Thanacharoenchanaphas, Nophea Sasaki
KEYWORDS:
Safeguarding Biodiversity, Species Richness, Forest Conservation, Natural Forest, Myanmar
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Environmental Protection,
Vol.5 No.17,
December
15,
2014
ABSTRACT: Safeguarding
biodiversity is an important component of the REDD+ scheme of the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change. Information on tree species and their
distribution is therefore needed for successful implementation of forestry
carbon projects. Forest inventory data were collected in four natural forests
located in Popa Mountain Park, Myanmar. Based on the data from 4-ha sample
plots, average stem density ranges from 1293 trees ha-1 in dry
dipterocarp forest to 804 tree ha-1 in dry evergreen forest.
According to the Jackknife estimator for species richness (trees with DBH ≥ 5 cm),
the highest number of species was recorded in dry mixed deciduous forest—74 species
ha-1, and the lowest number of species recorded in dry forest—40
species ha-1. Dry mixed deciduous forest occupied the highest value
on the Shannon-Wiener index and Simpson diversity index while the lowest was in
dry forest, indicating that dry mixed deciduous forest is the most complex
whereas dry forest is the simplest community. Not only does this study provide
useful information on the current status of vegetation type but the information
is important for designing forestry management systems that could result in
biodiversity conservation and carbon emission reductions.