Trends in structural compositional attributes of dune-interdune vegetation and their edaphic relations in the Indian desert |
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Authors: | Suresh Kumar |
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Institution: | (1) Division of Resource Survey & Monitoring, Central Arid Zone Research Institute, 342 003 Jodhpur, India |
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Abstract: | Vegetation of 127 sites on different aspects of dune-interdunes in the Indian Thar Desert was classified using TWINSPAN. TWINSPAN groupings of sites separated better vegetated dunes of the northeast form the poorly vegetated dunes of the northwest and the southwest. Of the different ordinations using noncentred, centred and centred and standardized principal component analysis, reciprocal averaging and detrended correspondence analysis (DCA), the site and species classes in DCA correlated well with ten edaphic and ten vegetational attributes of each site. Strong correlation of vegetation groupings with soil texture, moisture holding capacity and low correlation with pH and electrical conductivity revealed the possible importance of soil physical properties in affecting vegetation composition.The 11 species classes in TWINSPAN were regrouped into 18 species classes in DCA, which separated highly frequent species from those of less and least frequent species. Based on dominance-diversity attributes, Calligonum polygonoides-Lasiurus sindicus was brought out as bioedaphic climax stage. Correlation of ordination scores in different site groupings with vegetational attributes showed specific trends: From the zero of x, y and z axes to their maximum, the ordination scores of grasses and browse species declined while score of spinous species increased. The sites near the origin of the x, y and z axes were therefore least degraded and those at or near the maximum of x, y & z axes were most disturbed as was confirmed by the dominance diversity trends. Thus trends of compositional and functional attributes of vegetation of sites in different groupings helped in inferring a site's degradation status.Abbreviations RIV
Relative importance value
- TWINSPAN
Two Way Indicator Species Analysis
- PCA
Principal Component Analysis
- RA
Reciprocal Averaging
- DCA
Detrended Correspondence Analysis
- EC
Electrical Conductivity
- WHC
Water Holding Capacity
- BD
Beta Diversity
- DC
Dominance Concentration
- WWS
Windward slope of the dune
- LWS
Leeward slope of the dune
- ID
Interdune Nomenclature: Bhandari, (1990) |
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Keywords: | Classification Ordination Soil moisture Soil reaction Spiny & browse plants diversity degradation |
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