Certain structural and functional aspects of a dry Deciduous forest and Savanna

Abstract

Besides describing the climo-vegetational features and degradation trends in tropical forests in India, attention is focussed on the significance of dry tropical forests and various savanna types derived from them, and maintained, due to anthropogenic pressure, A comparative account of the available information on biomass, net production and nutrient (N and P) cycling in three forests (natural Shorea in terai, and natural Anogeissus and plantation Tectona in dry deciduous regions) is given. While the plant biomass among these forests differs considerably (ca. 1:20), the differences in net production are relatively smaller (ca. 1:4), The vegetation, litter and soil nutrient pools are greatest in the Shorea forest, as also the aboveground nutrient recycle through litterfall; however, the nutrient return belowground through root mortality is greater in the relatively dry Anogeissus forest. Herbs account for bulk of the production and nutrient cycling in savanna; and the savanna in different climatic regions show functional differences.