Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 September 2024 | 16(9): 25856–25871

 

ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print) 

https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.9018.16.9.25856-25871

#9018 | Received 06 March 2024 | Final received 14 August 2024 | Finally accepted 30 August 2024

 

 

Diversity and distribution pattern of ebony trees Diospyros L. (Ebenaceae) in the forests of central Western Ghats, India

 

H.S. Shashwathi 1  & Y.L. Krishnamurthy 2

 

1,2 Department of Applied Botany, Kuvempu University, Jnana Sahyadri, Shankaraghatta, Shivamogga, Karnataka 577451, India.

 1 shashwathisringeri@gmail.com (corresponding author), 2 murthy_ylk@yahoo.co.in

 

 

Editor: Kannan C.S. Warrier, KSCSTE - Kerala Forest Research Institute, Thrissur, India.     Date of publication: 26 September 2024 (online & print)

 

Citation: Shashwathi, H.S. & Y.L. Krishnamurthy (2024). Diversity and distribution pattern of ebony trees Diospyros L. (Ebenaceae) in the forests of central Western Ghats, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 16(9): 25856–25871. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.9018.16.9.25856-25871

  

Copyright: © Shashwathi & Krishnamurthy 2024. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproduction, and distribution of this article in any medium by providing adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publication.

 

Funding: The financial support was provided by Karnataka Science and Technology Promotion Society (KSTePS) in the form of fellowship award for Shashwathi H. S.

 

Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

 

Author details: H.S. Shashwathi, research scholar, Kuvempu University. Presently working on diversity, distribution, ecology and molecular authentication and phylogeny of Diospyros trees. Field of interest—biodiversity and conservation, plant taxonomy, ecology, bioinformatics. Dr. Y.L. Krishnamurthy, professor, Kuvempu University. Subject expert—plant biodiversity, taxonomy, documentation & conservation and fungal endophytes - enhancement of plant growth by incorporation of beneficial fungi and fungal metabolite profiling, exploration and characterization of lichens, endo-lichenic fungi.

 

Author contributions: H.S. Shashwathi—carried out the field work, data collection, identification, photography, software handling, data interpretation, manuscript writing. Y.L. Krishnamurthy—carried out the field work, guided for data interpretation and manuscript writing.

 

Acknowledgements: The authors would like to acknowledge the research supervisor Dr. Y.L. Krishnamurthy, Department of Applied Botany, Kuvempu University, and host University Jnana Sahyadri, Kuvempu University for providing all necessary facilities. The authors are also grateful to the Karnataka Forest Department, India for allowing them to work in the forests. The authors would like to acknowledge the Karnataka Science and Technology Promotion Society (KSTePS) for financial support in the form of a fellowship.

 

 

Abstract: Diospyros trees, commonly known as persimmons or ebonies, have high economic and medicinal value. This study presents here a detailed analysis of the diversity and distribution of Diospyros species across 20 sites in the Western Ghats region of Karnataka, encompassing different forest types. Data collected from belt transects were used to calculate species richness and quantitative characters such as frequency, density, abundance, importance value index, basal area cover, and distribution type. Alpha and beta diversity across the different study sites were also determined. Non-metric multidimensional scaling analysis was performed to study the relationship between forest types and species composition. The results indicate Diospyros montana had the greatest frequency, density, basal area cover, and importance value. Agumbe and Hosagunda areas of Shivamogga district, and Makutta region of Kodagu district, showed rich diversity.

 

Keywords: Contagious, deciduous, diversity indices, evergreen, NMDS, richness, transects, tropical.

 

INTRODUCTION

 

Mother nature has equally distributed her wealth all over the earth in terms of natural resources. India is one of the richest countries in its natural resources and biodiversity. The biodiversity of any area can be measured by its flora and fauna, which is higher in the Western Ghats and northeastern parts of India. The Western Ghats and the eastern Himalaya are not only regarded as the treasure of biological diversity but also, they are two important hotspots of biodiversity. Western Ghats are accomplished with different levels of biological diversity along many gradients from temperate to the tropics. Diversity in the Western Ghats in terms of plant species increases from east to west and also from north to south with an increase in rainfall (Gadgil 1996; Karthik & Vishwanath 2012).

There are many plant species in the Western Ghats which are economically and medicinally important. The Ebenaceae family is one of the valuable sources of economically important products. Diospyros is a genus that belongs to the family Ebenaceae. They are dioecious trees with a highly polymorphic nature and show great morphological variations among individuals. Diospyros species are a source of several important products such as edible fruits, medicines, and timber (Singh 2005). Some are useful as ornamentals and have local ecological importance. These trees are also known to have folklore medicinal uses, mainly in the treatment of diarrhoea, for decreasing the increased cholesterol level, improve cognitive function used for inflammatory disorders (Sirisha et al. 2018). Persimmon fruits have anti-inflammatory, anti-atherosclerosis, hypo-cholesterolemic, antioxidant, antidiabetic, and anticancer properties (Ferrara 2021). Species of Diospyros have been revealed to be rich in naphthoquinones and naphthol, and these phytochemicals have proved to be good taxonomic markers of this genus (Sharma 2017).

Considering the status of Diospyros worldwide, a total of 607 species have so far been reported, of which 300 species occur in Asia and the Pacific area, 98 species in Madagascar and the Comoro Islands, 94 species in African Mainland, 100 species in America and 15 species in Australia (Wallnöfer 2001). In India, Diospyros is represented by 66 taxa (Singh 2005) of which 24 species of Diospyros were reported in Western Ghats (Gamble 1998), and 15 species occurred in Karnataka (Saldanha 1984).

The forests of the Western Ghats are the homeland for many such endemic and precious plants. There are several plant species that are threatened due to the activities of human beings, extensive harvesting of products, and also drastic climate change. The status of many plants in the forest is undetermined due to a lot of difficulties in identification and a lack of taxonomic knowledge. Diospyros L. is one such genus which needs to be conserved for its importance. Diversity studies oriented to such a single genus, are rare in this region. Therefore, the study was focused on: (1) investigating species composition and richness of the Diospyros trees in different forest types, basal area cover, and the pattern of distribution, (2) analysis of alpha and beta diversity in different areas of the central Western Ghats region. Moreover, the current study provides us the basic knowledge about the present status of these trees in forests and conserves them.

 

 

MATERIALS AND METHODS

 

Study area

This study was carried out from 2021 to 2023 at locations in the central Western Ghats of Karnataka State in India. Major districts in this area include Uttara Kannada, Shivamogga, Chikkamagaluru, Hassan, and Kodagu, which present a range of forest types that include dry and moist deciduous, evergreen and semi-evergreen, and shola vegetation.

 

Field survey and sampling

Stratified random sampling was used for the sampling process. Four distinct forest types were represented by 10, 250 x 4 m belt transects. A total of 20 locations (Table 1) were investigated. Within the transects, Diospyros trees and allied species were counted. Every plant that had a circumference of more than 10 cm was measured at breast height. Samples were photographed and collected in order to prepare the herbariums deposited at Kuvempu University (Table 2). Utilizing floras, monographs, and other literature the identified trees were verified (Saldanha 1984; Gamble 1998; Ramaswamy et al. 2001; Singh 2005). The currently approved names for the identified tree species were assigned using an online database by means of the World Flora Online (www. worldfloraonline.org).

 

Statistical analysis

Assessment of species composition and structural diversity.

Quantitative characteristics of the forest community such as frequency, density, abundance, basal area, (IVI) important value index, relative frequency, relative density, relative abundance, and dominance were computed in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet (Cottam & Curtis 1956; Uddin et al. 2020).

Formulas used for data analysis are given below:

Frequency = (Number of transects in which the species occurred) / (Total number of transects studied)

Relative Frequency = (Frequency of a species) / (Total frequency of all species) × 100

Density = (Number of individuals of the species) / (Total number of transects studied)

Relative Density = (Density of a species ) / (Total density of all species) × 100

Abundance = (Total number of individuals of a species in all transects) / (Number of transects in which the species occurred)

Relative Abundance = (Abundance of a species) / (Total abundance of all species) × 100

Relative dominance = (Basal area of a species) / (Total basal area of all species) × 100

Basal area = (GBH)2 /4π where, GBH = girth at breast height and π = 3.1416

IVI (Important value index) = Relative frequency + Relative density + Relative dominance

Distribution pattern of the trees was calculated using (WI) Whitford value = Abundance/Frequency (Whitford 1949; Srinivas & Krishnamurthy 2016).

 

Analysis of alpha and beta diversity:

Alpha diversity was analysed by using Shannon-Wiener and Simpson’s diversity indices (Magurran 1988). They were calculated with the help of ecological Past software version, 4.03. and by Microsoft Excel.

formulas used for calculation;

 

  where, Pi = ni /N

ni = number of individuals in the species

N = the total number of individuals of all species

Here, quantity Pi is the proportion of individuals found in the species

          

 

where ni = the number of individuals in the ith species

 N = the total number of individuals.

A comparison of 20 distinct research sites was used to perform a beta diversity analysis. To determine beta diversity, similarity, and distance indices were calculated utilising the presence and absence data for Diospyros species, in the Past software version, 4.03 (Hammer et al. 2001). The Jaccard similarity index was computed to check the relationship between study sites (Newton 2007). The distribution of Diospyros trees in different forest types and their significance was studied by non-metric multidimensional scaling or NMDS analysis using Past software version, 4.03.

 

 

RESULTS

 

Species richness and structural composition

 The floristic study was conducted in 20 different study sites with different forest types. A total of 4178 individuals of 189 species belonging to 130 genera and 51 families were recorded. Around 374 Diospyros trees were distributed among 16 species (Table 2). Other trees were identified belonging to Fabaceae (13), Rubiaceae (8), Rutaceae (7), Lauraceae (6), Meliaceae (6), Phyllanthaceae (6), Anacardiaceae (5), Apocyanaceae (5). Associated with Diospyros, the genera with the highest species composition were Ficus (7), from the Moraceae family, Terminalia (7) from Combretaceae, Syzigium (7) from Myrtaceae and Holigarna from Anacardiaceae (5) (Table 4).

The number of individuals and species composition of Diospyros trees were used to examine the species richness of 20 distinct study areas. S6-Agumbe exhibits the highest species richness. Eight Diospyros species with an overall 97 individuals were represented at the Agumbe region namely Diospyros saldanhae (25), D. ebenum (10), D. candolleana (8), D. paniculata (26), D. sylvatica (14), D. ferrea (7), D. oocarpa (2), D. pruriens (5) were documented.

With five species and 19 individuals of Diospyros, the S19-Hosagunda region had the highest species richness, next to S6. The species documented were D. candolleana (1), D. crumenata (6), D. montana (4), D. sylvatica (4), and Diospyros ridleyi (4) (Ramesh & Franceschi 1993; Vasudeva 2007). Diospyros crumenata is one of the endangered species found within the transect.

S8-Makutta also showed better species richness with five species and 14 individuals. The species observed were D. buxifolia (2), D. ebenum (1), D. ghatensis (4), D. paniculata (3), D. sylvatica (4).

S17 -Arehalli (18), S11-N.R. Pura (9), S2-Ayanoor (5) showed the least richness among study sites. Details of all 16 species of Diospyros and their distribution in different study sites along with the number of individuals are depicted in (Figure 2).

Frequency: Diospyros montana was the most frequently distributed tree species (72.50%) among 16 species according to a floristic enumeration of the study area (Figure 3) Diospyros sylvatica, on the other hand, also showed a high frequency value of 32.50% (Figure 3) and was not present in dry deciduous forests, but was observed in eight study sites of evergreen forests. Diospyros nilagirica, D. malabarica, and D. ridleyi exhibited the lowest frequency value of 2.50% and were limited to one study site each.

Density: Diospyros montana was the most densely observed species with a value of 3.20. Diospyros melanoxylon was also distributed densely next to Diospyros montana with a value of 1.58. Diospyros melanoxylon was recorded in six sites among 20 and restricted to deciduous forests. Least density was reflected by Diospyros malabarica with the value 0.03 (Figure 3).

Abundance: Diospyros paniculata was found to be the most abundantly distributed species (9.67). Diospyros saldanhae was also an abundant species with a value of 9.33. These trees were observed only in two sites each among 20 sites and were purely evergreen trees. Diospyros malabarica (1.00) and Diospyros oocarpa (1.00) were the trees with the least abundance among Diospyros trees (Figure 3).

Importance value index (IVI): The importance value index is a measure that indicates the importance of individual species in the forest which is the relative measure of density, dominance, and frequency. The importance value index of Diospyros trees ranges from 0.11–6.51. Among Diospyros, D. montana was noted with the highest IVI (6.51). The lowest value of IVI was reflected by D. malabarica. Importance value index of all 16 Diospyros trees is shown in Figure 3.

Basal area: The basal area covered by Diospyros montana was 104.103 m2/ha, which is the highest among Diospyros species. This was followed by Diospyros melanoxylon with a basal area value 26.21 m2/ha. Diospyros malabarica has the least basal area value of 0.0002 m2 / ha among Diospyros species (Figure 4)

 

Pattern of distribution

The ratio of abundance to frequency indicates a pattern of distribution. (Whitford 1949). A value less than 0.025 indicates regular distribution, values between 0.025–0.05 imply a random type of distribution, and values more than 0.05 imply a contagious type of distribution (Ndah et al. 2013). The abundance and frequency (A/F) ratio of all the Diospyros species shows values >0.05 which ranges from 0.06– 2.40 (Table 3). This indicates the clumped or contagious pattern of distribution.

 

Diversity indices: overall diversity of study sites

Species diversity can be assessed by using some type of diversity index, which provides us with information on species richness and evenness. Alpha diversity of 20 different study sites was calculated by using two important non-parametric diversity indices namely Shannon-Wiener index (H) and Simpson’s index (D).              

According to the Shannon-Wiener index, S19 shows the highest value 3.96 that is Hosagunda region is enriched with good diversity. Next to S19 highest Shannon index value was observed at S8-Makutta Ghat 3.93. The least Shannon value,1.56 was observed at S2 which is the Aynoor region. The Shannon index of all the study sites is given in Figure 5. According to Simpson’s index a value, near 1 denotes less diversity, and the value 0 refers to infinite diversity. In the present study Simpson index of study site 19 shows the lowest value 0.018 (Figure 5). This implies that the diversity is rich in S19 that is Hosagunda region which is followed by the S8 Makutta region also shows the lowest value of 0.0195 with good diversity (Figure 5). Among 20 study sites S2 that is Aynoor region shows the highest value of the Simpson index 0.248, which is represented by less diversity when compared to others.

 

Beta diversity

Beta diversity is a measure to determine the change in diversity among transects or environmental gradients and with species composition. Beta diversity was measured for 20 study sites using the Jaccard similarity index, to observe variation among the study sites in terms of Diospyros species composition. Jaccard similarity values for all the study sites were computed tabulated and given in Figure 6.

Among 20 study sites S1, S3, S4, S5, S12, and S13 exhibited a similarity index of 1.00, which indicates that these sites are 100 percent similar to each other (Figure 6). The next group with a value of 1.00 was S11, S2, and S17 which are overlapping in their species composition. These both groups are study sites representing dry and moist deciduous which are very similar in species composition.

Some study sites presented a Jaccard similarity value of 0.00, indicating that these sites are completely dissimilar in their species composition. This type of trend is observed by S6, S8, S7, and S10 which exhibit the value 0.00 in relation to study sites S1, S2, S3, S4, and S5 indicating the completely dissimilar groups.

Sixty-seven percent similarity is observed between S18 and S15 with a similarity value of 0.67. The study sites S2, S11, and S17 shows value (0.50) 50% similarity with S1, S3, S4, S5, S9, S12, S13, S14, S15, S16. This predicts that only half of the species composition among these groups is similar.

Observing the tabulated Jaccard similarity index (Figure 6), study sites exhibited other similarity values like 0.40, 0.33,0.30, 0.29, 0.25, 0.22, 0.20, 0.18, 0.17, 0.14, 0.13, and 0.11 which are all less than 0.50, indicating the similarity between study sites are less than 50%. Each value in the columns and rows indicates their respective percentage similarity between the two study sites.

 

 

DISCUSSION

 

Tropical regions of the world are generally adorned with rich species diversity. The diversity of tree species is a basement for total biodiversity in numerous ecosystems because most of the organisms are dependent on them for food and habitat (Jayakumar & Nair 2013). Tropical forests which provide the best ecosystem services, nurture about 50–90 % of the known terrestrial plant and animal species and cover less than 10 percent of the total land area. In India, 40% of the rural population are relied on forest resources (Gopalakrishna 2015). Western Ghats of India is one such region endowed with a wide variety of ecosystems from tropical wet evergreen forests to grasslands with an enormous type of flora and fauna (Revathy et al. 2023). For several decades research on tropical forests has been conducted, yet understanding their ecology is a difficult task (Anitha et al. 2010). Every plant species has its contribution to biodiversity. The presence or absence of plant species in the forest could not be underestimated, because balancing the forest ecosystem is dependent on every species present in the forest. Accordingly, the quantitative investigation of Diospyros trees revealed better diversity in some areas of central Western Ghats, Karnataka.

Species composition and richness: species richness in the community is determined by the productivity of the system and structural complexity or diverseness. The composition of species within a community suggests us flexibility and predictability of a particular environment (Upadhya et al. 2003) Wet tropical forests are characterised by their high species richness (Chandrashekara & Radhakrishnan 1994). The present study depicted 16 species of Diospyros trees in 20 different study sites in the central Western Ghats region which was higher than that of the 15 species reported previously in Karnataka state (Saldanha 1984). Diospyros chloroxylon, D. ovalifolia, and D. cordifolia which were reported by them were not observed in the present study. Other than this our study additionally reported Diospyros ghatensis, D. nilagirica, and D. ridleyi (Table 2).

Among the study sites, Agumbe S6 of Shivamogga district showed the highest species richness with a greater number of Diospyros paniculata (26) trees (Figure 2). A similar study showed that the vegetation of Agumbe is the richest along with that Ebenaceae was the dominant family and Diospyros paniculata is one of the dominant species in this region (Srinivas & Parthasarathy 2000). Floristic studies in the Agumbe region of Western Ghats suggested that Ebenaceae family members were frequently distributed, and documented eight species of Diospyros (Rao & Krishnamurthy 2021). The study also reported eight species of Diospyros and in addition to previous studies Diospyros ferrea, D. pruriens, and D. sylvatica were observed from this region.

Along with species composition some of the characteristics like frequency, density, abundance, basal area, and IVI also determine the forest structure. The percentage frequency of the Diospyros trees in this study varied from 2.5– 72% (Figure 3). The top ranking of frequency was depicted by Diospyros montana (72%). This result is higher when compared to the frequency values of Diospyros melanoxylon and Diospyros embryopteris ranging 10–40 in three different regions of Eastern Ghats, India (Sahu et al. 2019). The present study also depicts good results in comparison with the relative frequency of Diospyros burmanica Kz. 4.58% from central Myanmar (Kyaw et al. 2022).

The total density of Diospyros trees per transect varied from 0.03–3.20 in the sites studied (Figure 3). The highest density was observed by Diospyros montana (3.20). The present result is lesser when compared to the density of Diospyros sylvatica (16) (Naidu & Kumar 2016) from Eastern Ghats of Andra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu region of India respectively.

Abundance values of Diospyros trees range between 1.00–9.67 in the current study (Figure 3). A great value of abundance was observed by Diospyros paniculata (9.67). The studies on tree abundance by species and family across six elevation zones of Mahendragiri Hill Forests of Eastern Ghats, Odisha, India depicted the four Ebenaceae family members with their abundance values ranging 3–35. Among them, Diospyros malabarica (26) was a highly abundant species (Khadanga et al. 2023) and the range of abundance values is comparatively higher than our current study in central Western Ghats.

Analysis of the Importance Value Index can be used to identify patterns of association of dominant species in a community, which in turn represents the status of species within the community. Analysis of IVI in 20 different sites revealed that values ranged from 0.11–6.51 (Figure 3). Diospyros montana showed the highest (IVI, 6.51) followed by Diospyros melanoxylon (IVI, 2.52). (Sharma et al.2023) reported that Diospyros melanoxylon showed the great value of (IVI 16.01, and 20.85) in highly and moderately disturbed tropical dry forests of northern India respectively. Borah & Garkoti (2011) showed that the IVI of Diospyros toposia Buck- Ham. was 9.92 in the disturbed forest of Barak reserves in southern Assam, India. A species with a high importance value index (IVI) demonstrates dominance and ecological success, as well as good regeneration and ecological amplitude. These plants require conservation management, while those with a low value require significant and intensive conservation efforts (Esor et al. 2023).

Stand basal area is a parameter used in quantifying a forest stand which estimates the volume of trees and helps in understanding competition among species. Basal area of Diospyros trees across 20 sites of central Western Ghats showed a wide range (0.0002–104.1030 m2/ha). Among them Diospyros montana (104.1030 m2/ha) showed great basal area cover with the highest number of stems (Figure 4). Naidu & Kumar (2016) reported that Diospyros sylvatica one of the important species depicted 2.02 m2/ha.

Studies of quantitative parameters revealed that among Diospyros trees, Diospyros montana is recognised to be an important species with a high importance value index. Diospyros montana was found to be the most frequent and densely distributed one with the contribution of the highest basal area. This particular tree may be adapted to both dry and moist environments. Hence, we can observe this tree in all types of forests from evergreen to dry deciduous forests but a greater number of trees occurred in semi-evergreen and moist deciduous forests.

Pattern of distribution: spatial distribution pattern can be represented by abundance to frequency ratio which is known as the Whitford value (Whitford 1949). In the current study, all Diospyros species show A/F values of more than 0.05 which range from 0.06–2.40 (Table 3). This indicates the clumped or contagious pattern of distribution. Similarly, (Ndah et al. 2013) reported Diospyros herienasis (0.49) showing the contagious distribution of the species from southwestern Cameroon. Both random and contagious distribution pattern of Diospyros melanoxylon (0.03–0.06) was reported in different study sites from tropical dry forests of northern India (Sharma et al. 2023). Primarily due to gap phase dynamics, tropical rain forests constitute highly patchy communities. The arrangement of members of the same species together is often directly linked to a mechanism for gap formation among the species and dispersal (Upadhya et al. 2003).

Diversity indices: diversity of any community can be recorded in the form of diversity indices. The Shannon index is one such parameter that depicts the diversity and richness of an area. Normally it ranges 1.5– 3.5 and occasionally surpasses 4.5. As the Shannon index value increases or is near 4.5 then it implies rich diversity in that area. In the same way, if the value is near 1 then it indicates less diverse organisms in a particular area. Usually, the range of the Shannon index prescribed for tropical forests is 0.83–4.1 (Subashree et al. 2021). (Tadwalkar et al. 2020) reported Shannon value from the northern region of Western Ghats ranging 0–2.86. In southern Western Ghats, it was 4.49 studied by (Sathish et al. 2013). The present investigation of 20 study sites of central Western Ghats represented the Shannon index value ranging 1.56–3.96. Among the 20 study sites, the Shannon index was highest at S19- Hosagunda (3.9638) indicating the highest diversity, which was followed by S8- Agumbe (3.9364) indicating a diverse population of trees. The least value of the Shannon index was observed at S2– (1.5675) Aynoor region which implies comparatively less diversity (Figure 5).

Simpson’s index known as the dominance index indicates how abundantly the species exists in a region. The dominance index for Indian tropical forests ranges from 0.21–0.92 (Subashree et al. 2021). The Simpson’s dominance index in different forest types of southern Western Ghats was reported by (Joseph et al. 2021) which depicted values were 0.021 in evergreen, 0.071 in shola, 0.054 in semievergreen, 0.075 in moist deciduous, and 0.093 in dry deciduous forest types. The present study shows values of Simpson’s index ranging from 0.019–0.248 (Figure 5). Values of the Simpson index near 0 indicate the highest diverse community. In terms of diversity in current research, S19 located at Hosagunda sacred groove of Shivamogga district showed the richest diversity among the study sites with the highest value of the Shannon index and the lowest value of Simpson’s index which was followed by S8- Makutta region (Figure 5). Hosagunda is one of the sacred grooves consisting of Kaan Forests with a rich floristic composition. About five species of Diospyros were represented with better species richness and among them, Diospyros crumenata one of the endangered trees was recorded in the sacred groove. Earlier studies on the floristic composition of the Kaan forests of Sagara Taluk in central Western Ghats were carried out by (Gunaga et al. 2015). This study helped to understand that the Kaan forests of Sagara Taluk harbours diverse flora in evergreen and semievergreen forests. Most of the plant species reported inside the Kaans do not occur outside this habitat, indicating their endemic nature.

Beta diversity: the integration of processes related to ecology and evolution at different levels of space is an important task for figuring out how biodiversity is structured and preserved over time. In order to achieve this, the analysis of beta diversity is a promising method that makes it possible to quantify heterogeneity in the distribution of gamma and alpha diversities. This enables the assessment of how species alter over time and in response to environmental variation (Pinto-Ledezma et al. 2018). The present study concentrated on the beta diversity of 20 study sites in central Western Ghats which was calculated with the help of Jaccard’s similarity index. The Jaccard similarity index of different study sites was tabulated and given in Figure 6. The Jaccard similarity values range between 0 to 1, where 0 indicates the dissimilarity between study sites and 1 indicates 100% similar study sites. In current work study site S6, S7, S8, and S10 showed similarity value 0.00 with respect to study sites S1, S2, S3, S4, S5. It is clear that S6, S7, S8, and S10 are the evergreen forest sites that are completely different in species composition from S1, S2, S3, S4, and S5 which represent dry deciduous forests. Study sites S1, S3, S4, S5, S12, and S13 depicted a similarity value of 1.00 with each other indicating 100% similarity in their species composition. In the same way, another set of study sites S2, S11, and S17 also show a similarity value of 1.00 with each other. Most of these sites mentioned above are dry deciduous and moist deciduous forests showing similarity among themselves in terms of species composition of Diospyros. The study sites S2, S11, S17 represented the similarity value 0.50 with the study sites S3, S4, S5, S9, S12, S13, S14, S15, S16. This infers that the former three sites are 50% similar to the later study sites. In the same way, S20 showed 50% similarity with the sites S19 and S15.

The trend shows that evergreen study sites (S6, S7, S8, S9, S10) and dry deciduous sites (S1, S2, S3, S4, S5) are completely dissimilar in the composition of Diospyros species. Semi-evergreen sites (S5, S16, S18, S19, S20) show less than 50% of similarity with evergreen, moist deciduous, and dry deciduous sites except S17. Moist deciduous sites (S11, S12, S13, S14, S15) show 50% or less than 50% similarity with evergreen and semi-evergreen sites. In this way, the similarity values are picturised in the Figure 6, which represents the similarity of each study site with respect to other study sites in terms of the composition of Diospyros species. This type of analysis is very similar to a study conducted in human-disturbed forests of Uttara Kannada, central Western Ghats by Rao et al. (2013). Another study aimed at analysis of site quality with the Jaccard similarity index in northeastern India was undertaken by Thangjam et al. (2022).

Forest types and species composition: the Western Ghats have a wide range of vegetation types due to their complex geography, altitudinal temperature decrease, and large variations in annual precipitation (1,000–6,000 mm), in addition to human influences (Rao et al. 2013). The Western Ghats are home to four main types of forests: moist deciduous, dry deciduous, semi-evergreen, and evergreen, according to different field-based analyses of vegetation groups and satellite photograph interpretation. Along with the forest types mentioned above, the parts of central Western Ghats included in the current research consist of mainly low- altitude and middle- altitude evergreen forest types (Pascal 1990). Species composition changes across the different forest types which is true in the case of Diospyros trees. According to (Saldanha 1984; Gamble 1998), among 16 species of Diospyros trees observed by us majority of trees are restricted to evergreen and semi-evergreen forests. Only Diospyros montana and D. melanoxylon are the species found in moist and dry deciduous types. Diospyros montana is found in both the forest types along with semi-evergreen forests. In this study D. melanoxylon was restricted to dry deciduous forests as before, but slight deviation was observed in study site S14 where it is a moist deciduous type of forest. Diospyros buxifolia which is a typical evergreen tree was found in the S14 region. The reasons for this may be rainfall and the dispersal mechanism of seeds. Species diversity of Diospyros is correlated with the vegetation types. NMDS analysis presents us with clear evidence regarding this (Figure 7). Study sites were classified into four groups based on forest types where group-1 dry deciduous forests, group-2 evergreen forests, group-3 moist deciduous forests, group-4 semi-evergreen forests, and dataset including the existence of Diospyros trees were considered for analysis. This plot indicates the four different forest types where group- 1 is dry deciduous forests which include study S1–S5. They are grouped separately in the plot because the species composition of dry deciduous forests is a peculiar one. Group- 2 indicates wet evergreen forests that include study sites S6–S10. All of them are grouped but S9 overlaps with group 4 which indicates in terms of Diospyros species composition this site is a similar composition to semi- evergreen site. In the same way, the group–3 indicates moist deciduous forests from S11–S15 whereas S12 overlaps with group- 4 depicting similar species composition. Group- 4 represents S16–S20 which is semi-evergreen forests. Here S19 and S20 overlap with the Evergreen Forest group indicating species diversity similar to evergreen forests. Similar floristic studies using NMDS analysis were conducted by (Bueno et al. 2017).

The analysis of species composition and diversity of Diospyros trees suggests that evergreen and semi-evergreen forests show the highest richness, alpha, and beta diversity than dry deciduous forests. The dry deciduous forest of the lower rainfall region is peculiar in species composition but has low tree densities and low levels of alpha diversities. Not only vegetation types community composition is also strongly influenced by elevation, and edaphic factors of the area (Mwakalukwa et al. 2014). Vegetation types, rainfall, and the dioecious nature of trees also play a very important role in the distribution of these trees. Some of the trees are not known to the world and are only used by local people. Many protected areas like sacred grooves are naturally protecting these trees. Diversity in forests is decreasing due to some anthropogenic activities and the invasion of alien species. As these trees are economically and medicinally important, few are threatened, so there is a need for conservation. Gaining knowledge about forest trees is very essential aspect and the first step in the conservation of rich diversity and sustainable utilization.

 

Table 1. Details of the study sites with forest type and district.

Name of the study site

 Location name

Latitude

Longitude

Forest type

District

S1

Shikaripura

14.200° N

75.427° E

Dry deciduous

Shivamogga

S2

Ayanoor

14.091° N

75.411° E

Dry deciduous

Shivamogga

S3

Shankarghatta

13.736° N

75.627° E

Dry deciduous

Shivamogga

S4

Shanthveri

13.542° N

75.827° E

Dry deciduous

Chikkamagaluru

S5

Seege Gudda

13.099° N

76.044° E

Dry deciduous

Hassan

S6

Agumbe

13.523° N

75.111° E

Evergreen

Shivamogga

S7

Sakleshpura

12.869° N

75.711° E

Evergreen

Hassan

S8

Makutta

12.130° N

75.794° E

Evergreen

Kodagu

S9

Kigga

13.391° N

75.177° E

Evergreen

Chikkamagaluru

S10

Hulekal

14.676° N

74.761° E

Evergreen

Uttara Kannada

S11

N R Pura

13.639° N

75.511° E

Moist deciduous

Chikkamagaluru

S12

Arasaalu

14.016° N

75.344° E

Moist deciduous

Shivamogga

S13

Balehonnur

13.381° N

75.527° E

Moist deciduous

Chikkamagaluru

S14

Sirsi

14.643° N

74.777° E

Moist deciduous

Uttara Kannada

S15

Mandagadde

13.803° N

75.511° E

Moist deciduous

Shivamogga

S16

Sringeri

13.404° N

75.277° E

Semi evergreen

Chikkamagaluru

S17

Arehalli

12.775° N

75.911° E

Semi evergreen

Hassan

S18

Kundadri hills

13.556° N

75.177° E

Semi evergreen

Shivamogga

S19

Hosagunda

14.101° N

75.144° E

Semi evergreen

Shivamogga

S20

Kunnur

13.910° N

75.194° E

Semi evergreen

Shivamogga

 

Table 2. Checklist of the Diospyros trees observed in study sites.

 

Species name

Collection ID

Herbarium ID

1

Diospyros buxifolia (Blume) Hiern

ABDIO1

KUAB805

2

Diospyros candolleana Wight

ABDIO2

KUAB806

3

Diospyros crumenata Thwaites

ABDIO3

KUAB807

4

Diospyros ebenum J.Koenig ex Retz.

ABDIO4

KUAB808

5

Diospyros ghatensis B.R.Ramesh & D.DeFranceshi

ABDIO5

KUAB809

6

Diospyros malabarica (Desr.) Kostel

ABDIO6

KUAB810

7

Diospyros melanoxylon Roxb.

ABDIO7

KUAB811

8

Diospyros montana Roxb.

ABDIO8

KUAB812

9

Diospyros ferrea (Willd.) Bakh.

ABDIO9

KUAB813

10

Diospyros nilagirica Bedd.

ABDIO10

KUAB814

11

Diospyros oocarpa Thwaites

ABDIO11

KUAB815

12

Diospyros paniculata Dalzell

ABDIO12

KUAB816

13

Diospyros pruriens Dalzell

ABDIO13

KUAB817

15

Diospyros ridleyi Bakh.

ABDIO15

KUAB819

14

Diospyros saldanhae Kosterm

ABDIO14

KUAB818

16

Diospyros sylvatica Roxb.

ABDIO16

KUAB820

 

 

Table 3. Abundance / Frequency ratio of Diospyros trees.

Species name

Abundance /Frequency

Diospyros buxifolia

0.21

Diospyros candolleana

0.18

Diospyros crumenata

0.80

Diospyros ebenum

0.21

Diospyros ferrea

0.58

Diospyros ghatensis

0.40

Diospyros malabarica

0.40

Diospyros melanoxylon

0.31

Diospyros montana

0.06

Diospyros nilagirica

2.40

Diospyros oocarpa

0.20

Diospyros paniculata

1.29

Diospyros pruriens

0.50

Diospyros ridleyi

1.60

Diospyros saldanhae

1.24

Diospyros sylvatica

0.10

 

 

Table 4. List of other associated tree species with Diospyros in central Western Ghats.

Family

Genus

Species

Achariaceae

Hydnocarpus

Hydnocarpus pentandrus (Buch.-Ham.) Oken

Anacardiaceae

Holigarna

Lannea

Mangifera

Nothopegia

Spondias

Holigarna arnottiana Hook.f.

Holigarna beddomei Hook.f.

Holigarna ferruginea Marchand

Holigarna grahamii Kurz

Holigarna nigra Bourd.

Lannea coromandelica (Houtt.) Merr.

Mangifera indica L.

Nothopegia beddomei Gamble

Nothopegia castanefolia (Roth) Ding Hou

Spondias pinnata (L.f.) Kurz

Annonaceae

Meiogyne

Monooon

Meiogyne pannosa (Dalzell) J.Sinclair

Monooon fragrans (Dalzell) B.Xue & R.M.K.Saunders

 

Apocyanaceae

Tabernaemontana

Wrightia

Alstonia

Carissa

Holarrhena

Tabernaemontana alternifolia L.

Wrightia tinctoria R.Br.

Alstonia scholaris (L.) R.Br.

Carissa carandas L.

Holarrhena pubescens Wall. & G.Don

Arecaceae

Caryota

Pinanga

Caryota urens L.

Pinanga dicksonii (Roxb.) Blume

Bignoniaceae

Kigelia

Oroxylum

Kigelia africana ssp. africana

Oroxylum indicum (L.) Kurz

Burseraceae

Boswellia

Canarium

Boswellia serrata Roxb.

Canarium strictum Roxb.

Calophyllaceae

Mesua

Poeciloneuron

Calophyllum

Mesua ferrea L.

Poeciloneuron indicum Bedd.

Calophyllum apetalum Willd.

Cannabaceae

Celtis

Trema

Celtis timorensis Span.

Trema orientalis (L.) Blume

Capparaceae

Crateva

Crateva religiosa G.Forst.

Celastraceae

Euonymus

Euonymus indicus B.Heyne ex Wall.

Clusiaceae

Clusia

Garcinia

Clusia sp.

Garcinia gummi-gutta (L.) N.Robson

Garcinia sp.

Garcinia talbotii Raizada

Garcinia xanthochymus Hook.f.

Combretaceae

Terminalia

Terminalia anogeissiana Gere & Boatwr.

Terminalia arjuna (Roxb. ex-DC.) Wight & Arn.

Terminalia chebula Retz.

Terminalia elliptica Willd.

Terminalia paniculate B. Heyne ex Roth

Terminalia tomentosa Mart. ex-Eichler

Terminalia bellirica (Gaertn.) Roxb.

Cornaceae

Alangium

Alangium salviifolium (L.f.) Wangerin

Dichapetalaceae

Dichapetalum

Dichapetalum gelonioides (Roxb.) Engl.

Dilleniaceae

Dillenia

Dillenia pentagyna Roxb.

Dipterocarpaceae

Dipterocarpus

Hopea

Vateria

Dipterocarpus indicus Bedd.

Hopea canarensis Hole

Hopea parviflora Bedd.

Hopea ponga (Dennst.) Mabb.

Hopea sp.

Vateria indica L.

Elaeocarpaceae

Elaeocarpus

Elaeocarpus serratus L.

Elaeocarpus tuberculatus Roxb.

Euphorbiaceae

Blachia

Paracroton

Macaranga

Mallotus

Blachia denudata Benth.

Paracroton pendulus ssp. zeylanicus (Thwaites) N.P.Balakr. & Chakrab.

Macaranga peltata Müll.Arg.

Mallotus philippensis (Lam.) Müll.Arg.

Mallotus tetracoccus Kurz

Fabaceae

(Cercidoidae)

Bauhinia

Bauhinia variegata L.

Fabaceae (Caesalpinioideae)

Acacia

Cassia

Xylia

Albizia

Acacia sp.

Cassia fistula L.

Cassia sp.

Xylia xylocarpa (Roxb.) W.Theob.

Albizia chinensis (Osbeck) Merr.

Albizia lebbeck (L.) Benth.

Albizia odoratissima (L.f.) Benth.

Fabaceae (Detarioidae)

Humboldtia

Saraca

Tamarindus

Humboldtia brunonis Wall.

Saraca asoca (Roxb.) Willd.

Tamarindus indica L.

Fabaceae (Papilionoideae)

Dalbergia

Erythrina

Pongamia

Pterocarpus

Butea

Dalbergia latifolia Roxb.

Erythrina indica Lam.

Pongamia pinnata (L.) Pierre

Pterocarpus marsupium Roxb.

Butea monosperma (Lam.) Kuntze

Icacinaceae

Mappia

Mappia nimmoniana (J. Graham) Byng & Stull

Lamiaceae

Callicarpa

Tectona

Vitex

Callicarpa tomentosa (L.) L.

Tectona grandis L.f.

Vitex altissima L.f.

Lauraceae

Actinodaphne

Beilschmiedia

Cinnamomum

Cryptocarya

Litsea

Machilus

Actinodaphne angustifolia (Blume) Nees

Actinodaphne hookeri Meisn

Beilschmiedia wightii (Nees) Benth. ex-Hook.f.

Cinnamomum malabathrum (Burm.f.) J.Presl

Cinnamomum sp.

Cinnamomum verum J.Presl

Cryptocarya wightiana Thwaites

Litsea floribunda (Blume) Gamble

Litsea ghatica Saldanha

Litsea laevigata (Nees) Gamble

Machilus glaucescens (Nees) Wight

Lecythidaceae

Careya

Careya arborea Roxb.

Loganiaceae

Strychnos

Strychnos nux-vomica L.

Lythraceae

Lagerstroemia

Lagerstroemia macrocarpa Wight

Lagerstroemia sp.

Lagerstroemia speciosa Pers.

Magnoliaceae

Magnolia

Magnolia champaca L.

Malvaceae

Bombax

Microcos

Grewia

Helicteres

Kydia

Bombax ceiba L.

Microcos heterotricha (Mast.) Burret

Grewia tiliifolia Vahl

Helicteres isora L.

Kydia calycina Roxb.

Melastomataceae

Memecylon

Memecylon edule var. edule

Memecylon talbotianum D.Brandis

Memecylon terminale Dalzell

Memecylon umbellatum Burm.f.

Meliaceae

Aglaia

Azadirachta

Dysoxylum Reinwardtiod-endron

Toona

Heynea

Aglaia elaeagnoidea Benth.

Aglaia sp.

Azadirachta indica A.Juss.

Dysoxylum malabaricum Bedd. ex C.DC.

Reinwardtiodendron anamalaiense (Bedd.) Mabb.

Toona ciliata M.Roem.

Heynea trijuga Roxb.

Moraceae

Artocarpus

Ficus

Artocapus lacucha Roxb. Ex Buch.-Ham.

Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam.

Artocarpus hirsutus Lam.

Ficus exasperata Vahl

Ficus benghalensis L.

Ficus religiosa L.

Ficus hispida L.f.

Ficus racemosa L.

Ficus sp.

Ficus tsjahela Burm.f.

Myristicaceae

 Knema

 Myristica

Knema attenuata (Wall. ex-Hook.f. & Thomson) Warb.

Myristica dactyloides Gaertn.

Myristica fragrans Houtt.

Myristica malabarica Lam.

Myrtaceae

Eugenia

Syzygium

Eugenia aloysii C.J.Saldanha

Eugenia roxburghii DC.

Syzygium caryophyllatum (L.) Alston

Syzygium cumini (L.) Skeels

Syzygium gardneri Thwaites

Syzygium laetum (Buch.-Ham.) Gandhi

Syzygium sp.

Syzygium xanthophyllum (C.B.Rob.) Merr.

Syzygium zeylanicum (L.) DC.

Nyssaceae

Mastixia

Mastixia arborea (Wight) C.B.Clarke

Oleaceae

Chionanthus

Tetrapilus

Ligustrum

Chionanthus mala-elengi ssp. mala-elengi

Tetrapilus dioicus (Roxb.) L.A.S.Johnson

 Ligustrum nepalense Wall.

Phyllanthaceae

Aporosa

Bischofia

Breynia

Phyllanthus

Glochidion

Bridelia

Aporosa cardiosperma (Gaertn.) Merr.

Bischofia javanica Blume

Breynia retusa (Dennst.) Alston

Phyllanthus acidus (L.) Skeels

Phyllanthus emblica L.

Phyllanthus assamicus Müll.Arg.

Phyllanthus velutinus (Wight) Müll.Arg.

Glochidion zeylanicum (Gaertn.) A.Juss.

Bridelia retusa (L.) A.Juss.

Polygalaceae

Xanthophyllum

Xanthophyllum flavescens Roxb.

Primulaceae

Myrsine

 Myrsine wightiana Wall. ex A.DC.

Rhamnaceae

Ziziphus

Maesopsis

Ziziphus oenopolia (L.) Mill.

Ziziphus rugosa Lam.

Ziziphus xylopyrus (Retz.) Willd.

Maesopsis eminii Engl.

Rhizophoraceae

Carallia

Carallia brachiata (Lour.) Merr.

Rosaceae

Prunus

Prunus sp.

Rubiaceae

Adina

Neolamarckia

Psydrax

Canthium

Ixora

Catunaregam

Oxyceros

Randia

Adina cordifolia (Roxb.) Brandis

Neolamarckia cadamba (Roxb.) Bosser

Psydrax dicoccum Gaertn.

Canthium coromandelicum (Burm.f.) Alston

Canthium sp.

Ixora coccinea var. coccinea

Ixora brachiata Roxb.

Catunaregam spinosa (Thunb.) Tirveng.

Oxyceros rugulosus (Thwaites) Tirveng.

Randia sp.

Rutaceae

Aegle

Atalantia

Chloroxylon

Clausena

Zanthoxylum

Murraya

Naringi

Aegle marmelos (L.) Corrêa

Atalantia monophylla (L.) DC

Atalantia sp.

Chloroxylon swietenia DC.

Clausena anisata (Willd.) Hook.f.

Zanthoxylum rhetsa (Roxb.) DC.

Murraya paniculata (L.) Jack

Naringi crenulata (Roxb.) Nicolson

Salicaceae

Casearia

Flacourtia

Casearia tomentosa Roxb.

Flacourtia montana J.Graham

Santalaceae

Santalum

Santalum album L.

Sapindaceae

Dimocarpus

Sapindus

Schleichera

Dimocarpus longan Lour.

Sapindus trifoliatus L.

Schleichera oleosa (Lour.) Oken

Sapotaceae

Chrysophyllum

Manilkara                         

Madhuca

Palaquium

Chrysophyllum roxburghii G.Don

Manilkara kauki Dubard

Madhuca longifolia var. latifolia (Roxb.) A.Chev.

Madhuca sp.

Palaquium ellipticum (Dalzell) Baill.

Symplocaceae

Symplocos

Symplocos cochinchinensis S.Moore

Ulmaceae

Holoptelea

Holoptelea integrifolia (Roxb.) Planch.

Verbenaceae

Citharexylum

Citharexylum spinosum L.

Vitaceae

Leea

Leea indica (Burm.f.) Merr.

51 Families

130 Genera

189 species

 

 

For figures - - click here for full PDF

 

REFERENCES

 

Anitha, K., S. Joseph, R.J. Chandran, E.V. Ramasamy & S.N. Prasad (2010). Tree species diversity and community composition in a human-dominated tropical forest of Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot, India. Ecological Complexity 7(2): 217–224. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecocom.2010.02.005.

Borah, N. & S.C. Garkoti (2011). Tree Species composition, diversity, and regeneration patterns in undisturbed and disturbed forests of Barak Valley, south Assam, India. International Journal of Ecology and Environmental Sciences 37(3): 131–141. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.1.1808.6563

Bueno, M.L., V.L. Rezende, V. Pontara & A.T. de Oliveira-Filho (2017). Floristic distributional patterns in a diverse ecotonal area in South America. Plant Ecology 218: 1171–1186. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-017-0759-1

Chandrashekara, U.M. & P.S. Ramakrishnan (1994). Vegetation and gap dynamics of a tropical wet evergreen forest in the Western Ghats of Kerala, India. Journal of Tropical Ecology 10(3): 337–354. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0266467400008014

Cottam, G. & J.T. Curtis (1956). The use of distance measures in phytosociological sampling. Ecology 37(3): 451–460. https://doi.org/10.2307/1930167

Esor, P.E., J.I. Ammonum & S.I.N. Agera (2023). Forest structure, tree species diversity, and distribution in Ukpon River Forest Reserve, cross river state, Nigeria. International Journal of Avian & Wildlife Biology 7(2): 46–54. https://doi.org/10.15406/ijawb.2023.07.00189

Ferrara, L. (2021). Persimmon (Diospyros kaki L.): nutritional importance and potential pharmacological activities of this ancient fruit. Journal of Software Engineering 7: 01-–04.

Gadgil, M. (1996). Western Ghats: a lifescape. Journal of the Indian Institute of Science 76: 495–504.

Gamble, J.S. (1998). Flora of the Presidency of Madras, Vols.1,2 &3. The Authority of the Secretary of State for India in Council. London, 2017 pp.
Gopalakrishna, S.P., M.L. Kaonga, R.K. Somashekar, H.S. Suresh & R. Suresh (2015). Tree diversity in the tropical dry forest of Bannerghatta National Park in Eastern Ghats, southern India. European Journal of Ecology 1(2): 12–27. https://doi.org/10.1515/eje-2015-0013

Gunaga, S., N. Rajeshwari, R. Vasudeva & K.N. Ganeshaiah (2015). Floristic composition of the kaan forests of Sagar Taluk: sacred landscape in the central Western Ghats, Karnataka, India. Check List 11(3): 1626–1626. https://doi.org/10.15560/11.3.1626

Hammer, Ø., D.A. Harper & P.D. Ryan (2001). Past: paleontological statistics software package for education and data analysis. Palaeontologia electronica 4(1): 9.

IUCN (2023). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2023.1. International Union for Conservation of Nature. http://www.iucnredlist.org. Accessed on 02 December 2023.

Jayakumar, R. & K.K.N. Nair (2013). Species diversity and tree regeneration patterns in tropical forests of the Western Ghats, India. International Scholarly Research Notices Ecology 2013(890862): 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1155/2013/890862

Joseph, S., K. Anitha, V.K. Srivastava, S. Reddy, A.P. Thomas & M.S.R. Murthy (2012). Rainfall and elevation influence the local-scale distribution of tree community in the southern region of Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot (India). International Journal of Forestry Research 2012(576502): 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/576502

Karthik, M.L. & S. Viswanath (2012). Studies on species distribution patterns in tropical wet evergreen forests of Karnataka using permanent preservation plots (PPPs). Forestry Bulletin- ENVIS 12(2): 78–85.

Khadanga, S.S., A.A. Dar, N. Jaiswal, P.K. Dash & S. Jayakumar (2023). Elevation patterns of tree diversity, composition and stand structure in Mahendragiri Hill forest, Eastern Ghats of Odisha, India. Journal of Asia-Pacific Biodiversity 16: 391–405. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.japb.2023.04.004

Kyaw, Y.Y., K.S.S. Kyaw & Z.M. Htet (2022). Quantitative analysis of tree species diversity and composition in Thein Min Kha Area, Myaing Township. Yadanabon University Research Journal 12(2): 294–302.

Magurran, A.E. (1988). Ecological Diversity and Its Measurement. Croom Helm Ltd. London, United Kingdom. 175 pp.

Magurran, A.E. (2004). Measuring Biological Diversity. Blackwell Publishing, Oxford, United Kingdom, 248 pp.

Mwakalukwa, E.E., H. Meilby & T. Treue (2014). Floristic composition, structure, and species associations of dry miombo woodland in Tanzania. International Scholarly Research Notices 2014(1): 1–15.  https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/153278

Naidu, M.T. & O.A. Kumar (2016). Tree diversity, stand structure, and community composition of tropical forests in Eastern Ghats of Andhra Pradesh, India. Journal of Asia-Pacific Biodiversity 9(3): 328–334. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.japb.2016.03.019

Ndah, N.R., E.E. Andrew, E. Bechem (2013). Species composition, diversity and distribution in a disturbed Takamanda Rainforest, south west, Cameroon. African Journal of Plant Science 7(12): 577–585. https://doi.org/10.5897/AJPS2013.1107

Newton, A.C. (2007). Forest Ecology and Conservation A Handbook of Techniques. Oxford University Press, New York, 437 pp.

Pascal, J.P. (1990). Floristic composition and distribution of evergreen forests in the Western Ghats, India. Journal of Palaeocsiences 39(1–3): 10–126. https://doi.org/10.54991/jop.1990.1685

Pinto-Ledezma, J.N., D.J. Larkin & J. Cavender-Bares (2018). Patterns of beta diversity of vascular plants and their correspondence with biome boundaries across North America. Frontiers In Ecology and Evolution 6: 1–13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2018.00194

Ramaswamy, S.N., R.K. Rao & G.D. Arekal (2001). Flora of Shimoga District: Karnataka. Prsaranga, University of Mysore, Mysore, 719 pp.

Ramesh, B.R. & D. de Franceschi (1993). Two new species of Diospyros (Ebenaceae)from India. BLUMEA: Biodiversity, Evolution and Biogeography of Plants 38: 131–136.

Rao G.R., G. Krishnakumar, N.D. Sumesh, M.D.S. Chandran & T.V. Ramachandra (2013). Vegetation changes along altitudinal gradients in human-disturbed forests of Uttara Kannada, central Western Ghats. Journal of Biodiversity 4(2): 61–68. https://doi.org/10.1080/09766901.2013.11884743

Rao, G.S.A. & Y.L. Krishnamurthy (2021). Flowering plants of Agumbe region, central Western Ghats, Karnataka, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 13(7): 18853–18867. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.4761.13.7.18853-18867

Revathy, U., B.C. Nagaraja & S. Sundarapandian (2023). Tree diversity in the Shola forests of Brahmagiri Wildlife Sanctuary, Karnataka, India. Current World Environment 18(1): 59–74. https://doi.org/10.12944/CWE.18.1.6

Sahu, S.C., A.K. Pani, M.R. Mohanta & K Jagdish (2019). Tree species diversity, distribution and soil nutrient status along altitudinal gradients in Saptasajya Hill range, Eastern Ghats, India. Taiwania 64(1): 28–38. https://doi.org/10.6165/tai.2019.64.28

Saldanha, C.J. (1984). Flora of Karnataka. Vol. 1. Oxford and IBH Publishing Co., New Delhi, 535 pp.

Sathish, B.N., S. Viswanath, C.G. Kushalappa, M.R. Jagadish & K.N. Ganeshaiah (2013). Comparative assessment of floristic structure, diversity and regeneration status of tropical rain forests of Western Ghats of Karnataka, India. Journal of Applied and Natural Science 5(1): 157–164. https://doi.org/10.31018/jans.v5i1.300

Sharma, A., S.K. Patel & G.S. Singh (2023). Variation in species composition, structural diversity, and regeneration along disturbances in tropical dry forest of northern India. Journal of Asia-Pacific Biodiversity 16(1): 83–95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.japb.2022.11.004

Sharma, V. (2017). Brief review on the genus Diospyros: a rich source of naphthoquinones. Asian Journal of Advanced Basic Sciences 5(2): 34–53.

Singh, V. (2005). Monograph of Indian Diospyros L. (Persimmon, Ebony) Ebenaceae. Botanical Survey of India. Kolkata, 323 pp.

Sirisha S.N.V.L., A. Male, A.S. Kiran, I.S. Raj, N. Balasubramanyam, R. Teja & G. Surendra (2018). A scientific review on three species of Diospyros. Pharmacognosy Reviews 12(24): 214–217. https://doi.org/10.4103/phrev.phrev_6_18

Srinivas, S.G. & Y.L. Krishnamurthy (2016). Distribution of Litsea floribunda (Lauraceae), a dioecious tree endemic to Western Ghats of India. Indian Journal of Ecology 43(1): 224–228.

Srinivas, V. & N. Parthasarathy (2000). Comparative analysis of tree diversity and dispersion in the tropical lowland rainforests of Agumbe, central Western Ghats, India. Tropical Biodiversity 7: 45–60.

Subashree, K., J.A. Dar, S. Karuppusamy & S. Sundarapandian (2021). Plant diversity, structure and regeneration potential in tropical forests of Western Ghats, India. Acta Ecologica Sinica 41(4): 259–284. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chnaes.2020.02.004

Tadwalkar, M., A. Joglekar, M. Mhaskar & A. Patwardhan (2020). Woody species diversity from proposed ecologically sensitive area of northern Western Ghats: implications for biodiversity management. Journal of Threatened Taxa 12(9): 16048–16063. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.5524.12.9.16048-16063

Thangjam, U., T. Pentile, U.K. Sahoo, A. Jitendra, B. Malsawmkima & H. Lalrempuii (2022). Tree species diversity in relation to site quality and home gardens types of North-East India. Agroforestry Systems 96(1): 187-204. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-021-00715-6

Uddin, M.F., I. Chowdhury & M.K. Hossain (2020). Assessment of tree species diversity, composition and structure of Medha Kachhapia National Park, Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. Asian Journal of Forestry 4(1): 15– 21. https://doi.org/10.13057/asianjfor/r040104

Upadhaya, K., H.N. Pandey, P.S. Law & R.S Tripathi (2003). Tree diversity in sacred groves of the Jaintia Hills in Meghalaya, northeast India. Biodiversity & Conservation 12: 583–597. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022401012824

Vasudeva, R.M.K. (2007). Critical notes on Diospyros pyrrhocarpoides (Ebenaceae). BLUMEA: Biodiversity, Evolution and Biogeography of Plants 52: 331–333.

Wallnöfer, B. (2001). The biology and systematics of Ebenaceae: a review. Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien (103B): 485–512.

WFO (2023). World Flora Online. Version 2023.06. http://www.worldfloraonline.org/ Accessed on 23 November 2023.

Whitford, P.B. (1949). Distribution of woodland plants in relation to succession and clonal growth. Ecology 30(2): 199–208. https://doi.org/10.2307/1931186