Dynamics of Forest Diversity

Objectives:

Ecosystems worldwide are changing as a result of myriad anthropogenic processes viz., deforestation, fragmentation, hunting, changes in CO2 concentrations, increasing temperatures and altered rates of nitrogen deposition etc. It may be easy to measure these physical and chemical drivers with reasonable accuracy and precision. However quantifying possible ecological responses to these drivers is an extremely difficult task. Such effects are best perceived through long-term monitoring of permanent plots in ecological communities. The French Institute of Pondicherry in collaboration with the Karnataka Forest Department, installed permanent sampling plots in the Kadamakal Reserve Forest and Pushpagiri Wildlife Sanctuary with the main objective to document, analyses and model forest dynamics.

Materials and methods:

Study area:

Uppangala forest is situated in the Kadamakal Reserve Forest (Coorg district) at the foothills of the Western Ghats, located between 12° 33' N latitude and 75° 39' E longitude (Fig 1a). The elevation ranges between 400 and 600 m a.s.l. It belongs to the Dipterocarpus indicus-Kingiodendron pinnatum-Humboldtia brunonis type of wet evergreen forests and is a part of the West Coast Tropical Forests of Champion and Seth's classification. Uppangala receives slightly more than 5100 mm per year and the dry season lasts 4.5 months.

Methods:
Sample designs and censuses

In 1985-86, the French Institute of Pondicherry, in collaboration with the Karnataka Forest Department, installed the first set permanent sampling plots in the logged compartment (A; Fig. 1b) of low elevation wet evergreen forest of Kadamakal Reserve Forest to monitor the post-logging forest dynamics (ca. 8.5 trees ha-1 were logged). All trees ? 10 cm gbh were inventoried, mapped, girth and crown dimensions measured in fourteen systematically established plots of 20 ? 30 m. In addition, all stems ? 2 m height were inventoried in six 5 ? 5 m subplots. A total of 2,748 trees and saplings were recorded during the first census. All the plots were recensused (except 4 plots, which were recorded as burnt) in 1988 and 1993 for recruitment and mortality. In 1989, a second set of sample plots were established in the unlogged compartment (B; Fig. 1c) to evaluate natural forest dynamics in a similar floristic zone (http://esapubs.org/archive/ecol/E092/115/metadata.htm). Five north-south oriented transects (viz., A, B, C, D and E) of 20 m wide, 180 to 370 m long and 100 m apart from each other were established to inventory trees  ? 10 cm dbh. Collectively they represent a 3.12-ha systematic sample. Subsequently, additional rectangular sampling plots viz., H, R and S, which overlap with sampling area of the transects and represents an additional area of 1.95 ha, were established between 1990 and 1993 to study the forest dynamics according to topography (slope and more or less flat terrain). Totally 3,870 trees were identified, mapped and installed with dendrometric belt (precision of 0.2mm) for growth monitoring. In 2010-11, four 1 ha plots were inventoried in the logged compartment to understand the residual impact of logging. In 2013-2014, the sampling area of the unlogged compartment has been increased to 10 ha The sampling area has been monitored for recruitment and mortality till to date.

Main outputs:

Publications from the UPSP

Research articles

1.      Loffeier, M.E. 1988. Reconstitution après exploitation sélective en forêt sempervirente du Coorg (Inde). Acta Oecologia, Oecologia Generalis, 9(1): 69-87.

2.      Sinha A., Davidar P. 1992. Seed dispersal ecology of a wind dispersed rain forest tree in the Western Ghats. Biotropica, 24 (4): 519-526.

3.      Pascal, J.-P. 1995. Quelques exemples de problèmes posés à l’analyste et au modélisateur par la complexité de la forêt tropicale humide. Revue d’Ecologie (Terre et Vie), 50 : 237-249.

4.      Pascal, J.-P. & Pélissier, R. 1996. Structure and floristic composition of a tropical evergreen forest in southwest India. Journal of Tropical Ecology, 12(2): 195-218. 

5.      Robert, S. & Salaün, P. 1996. Uppugala ou la difficulté d'être pionnier. Etude d'un village enclavé en forêt dans les Ghâts occidentaux (Inde). Espace Géographique, 2: 159-172.

6.      Elouard, C., Pélissier, R., Houllier, F., Pascal, J.-P., Durand, M., Aravajy, S., Gimaret-Carpentier, C., Moravie, M.-A. & Ramesh, B.R. 1997. Monitoring the structure and dynamics of a dense moist evergreen forest in the Western Ghats (Kodagu District, Karnataka, India). Tropical Ecology, 38(2):193-214.

7.      Moravie, M.-A., Pascal, J.-P. & Auger, P. 1997. Investigation of canopy regeneration processes through individual-based model: application to tropical rain forest. Ecological. Modelling, 104: 241-261.

8.      Gimaret-Carpentier, C., Pélissier, R., Pascal, J.-P. & Houllier, F. 1998. Sampling strategies for the assessment of tree species diversity. Journal of Vegetation Science, 9(2): 161-172.

9.      Pélissier, R. 1998. Tree spatial patterns in three contrasting plots of a southern Indian tropical moist evergreen forest. Journal of  Tropical Ecology, 14(1): 1-16.

10.  Pélissier, R., Pascal, J.-P., Houllier, F. & Laborde, H. 1998. Impact of selective logging on the dynamics of a low elevation dense moist evergreen forest in the Western Ghats (South India). Forest Ecology and Management, 105: 107-119.

11.  Moravie M.-A., Durand M., Houllier F. 1999. Ecological meaning and predictive ability of social status, vigour and competition indices in a tropical rain forest (India). Forest Ecology and Management, 119: 221-240.

12.  Pélissier, R. & Goreaud, F. 2001. A practical approach to the study of spatial structure in simple cases of heterogeneous vegetation. Journal of Vegetation Science, 12(1): 99-108.

13.  Moravie, M.-A. & Robert, A. 2003. A model to assess relationships between forest dynamics and spatial structure Journal of Vegetation Science 14: 823-834.

14.  Robert, A. 2003. Simulation of the effect of topography and tree falls on stand dynamics and stand structure of tropical forests. Ecological Modelling, 167: 287–303.

15.  Robert, A. & Moravie, M.-A. 2003. Topographic variation and stand heterogeneity in a wet evergreen forest of India. Journal of Tropical Ecology 19: 709-716.

16.  Magnussen, S., Pélissier, R., He, F. & Ramesh, B.R. (2006) An assessment of sample-based estimators of tree species richness in two wet tropical forest compartments in Panama and India. International Forestry Review, 8(4): 417-431

17. Pélissier, R., Pascal, J.-P., Ayyappan, N., Ramesh, B. R., Aravajy, S. & Ramalingam, S. R. (2011) Twenty years tree demography in an undisturbed dipterocarp Permanent Sample Plot at Uppangala, Western Ghats of India - Data Paper. Ecology, 92(6):1376.

18.         Ploton, P., Pélissier, R., Proisy, C., Flavenot, T., Barbier, N., Rai, S. N. & Couteron, P. (2012) Assessing aboveground tropical forest biomass using Google Earth canopy images. Ecological Applications, 22(3): 993-1003.

19. Ayyappan, N., Ramesh, B. R., Aravajy, S. and Jeyakumar, S. 2012. Plantae, Myrtales, Memecylaceae, Memecylon macrocarpum Thwaites (1864): Distribution extension and geographic distribution map. Check List 8: 280-282.

20.         Le Bec J., Courbaud B., Le Moguédec G. and Pélissier R., 2015. Characterizing tropical tree species growth strategies: learning from inter-individual variability and scale invariance, PLoS ONE, 10 (3): e0117028, DOI : 10.1371/journal.pone.0117028, URL: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0117028.

21.         Antin C., Pélissier R., Vincent G. and Couteron P., 2013. Crown allometries are less responsive than stem allometry to tree size and habitat variations in an Indian monsoon forest, Trees - Structure and Function, 27 (5): 1485-1495, DOI: 10.1007/s00468-013-0896-7, URL: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00468-013-0896-7.

22.         Vega C., Vepakomma U., Morel J., Bader J.-L., Rajashekar G., Jha C.S., Ferêt J., Proisy C., Pélissier R. and Dadhwal, V.K., 2015. Aboveground-Biomass Estimation of a Complex Tropical Forest in India Using Lidar, Remote Sensing, 7: 10607-10625, DOI: 10.3390/rs70810607, URL: http://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/7/8/10607.

23.         Antin C., Le Bec J., Ayyappan N., Ramesh B.R. and Pélissier R., 2016. Allometric projections of time-related growth trajectories of two coexisting dipterocarp canopy species in India, Plant Ecology & Diversity, 9 (5-6): 603-614, DOI : 10.1080/17550874.2016.1266403, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17550874.2016.1266403.

24.         Jeyakumar, S., Ayyappan, N., Muthuramkumar, S.  and  Rajarathinam, K.. 2017. Impacts of selective logging on diversity, species composition and biomass of residual lowland dipterocarp forest in central Western Ghats, India Tropical Ecology 58: 315-330.

25.         Ploton, Pierre, Barbier Nicolas, Couteron Pierre, Antin Cécile, Ayyappan Narayanan, Balachandran N., Barathan N., Bastin Jean-François, Chuyong G.B., Dauby Gilles, Droissart Vincent, Gastellu Etchegorry J.P., Kamdem Narcisse Guy, Kenfack David, Libalah Moses, Mofack G., Momo S.T., Pargal S., Petronelli Pascal, Proisy Christophe, Rejou-Mechain Maxime, Sonké Bonaventure, Texier Nicolas, Thomas D., Verley P., Zebaze Dongmo D., Berger Uta, Pélissier Raphaël. 2017. Toward a general tropical forest biomass prediction model from very high resolution optical satellite images. Remote Sensing of Environment 200: 140-153

Dissertations- Ph. D.

Ph. D. theses

1.      Loffeier, M.E. 1988. Sylviculture et sylvigénèse en forêt sempervirente du Coorg (Sud-ouest de l’Inde). Thèse de Doctorat, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris VI.

2.      Basu, P. 1994. Ecology of ground foraging ants in a tropical evergreen forest in Western Ghats, India. Ph. D. Thesis, School of Ecology & Environmental Sciences, Pondicherry University. 80 pp.

3.      Pélissier, R. 1995. Relations entre l’hétérogénéité spatiale et la dynamique de renouvellement d’une forêt dense humide sempervirente (Forêt d’Uppangala, Ghâts occidentaux de l’Inde). Thèse de Doctorat, Université Claude Bernard, Lyon 1. 236 pp.

4.      Salaün P. 1995. Représentations, utilisations et transformations de la richesse floristique dans quatre communautés forestières des Ghâts occidentaux. Thèse de doctorat, Université Paris VI, 237 pp.

5.      Durand, M. 1999. Apport de l’analyse architecturale des arbres dans l’étude de la structure des forets tropicales sempervirentes. Cas d’une foret dense humide du sud de l’Inde. Thèse de Doctorat, Université des Sciences et Techniques du Languedoc, Montpellier. 331 pp.

6.      Moravie, M.-A. 1999. Un modèle arbre dépendant des distances pour l’étude des relations entre la dynamique et la structure spatiale d’une forêt dense sempervirente. Thèse de Doctorat, Université Claude Bernard, Lyon 1.

7.      Robert, A. 2001. Modélisation de l’effet de la topographie sur la dynamique et la structure de peuplements forestiers hétérogènes. Thèse de Doctorat, Université Claude Bernard, Lyon 1. 220 pp.

8.      Madelaine-Antin, C. 2006-2009. Dynamique des peuplements forestiers tropicaux hétérogènes : variabilité intra et interspécifique de la croissance des arbres et trajectoires de développement en forêt dense humide sempervirente, dans les Ghâts occidentaux de l'Inde. PhD thesis, ED Sibaghe, Univ. Montpellier 2. 202 pp.

9.      Le Bec, J. 2011. Prise en compte de la variabilité intraspécifique dans la modélisation de la dynamique des peuplements forestiers hétérogènes et implications en termes de coexistence des espèces. PhD thesis AgoParisTech, Univ. Montpellier 2

10.  Jeyakumar, S. 2015. Biodiversity and biomass of tropical evergreen forest at Uppangala, Western Ghats, India: spatial patterns and residual impacts of selective logging  PhD thesis Madurai Kamaraj University.

Dissertations- Masters and M.Phil.

1.      Ramakrishnan L. 1989. Stream fish community organization along habitat gradients in Uppangala Hole, Western Ghats, Karnataka. M.Sc. Dissertation, Pondicherry University, Salim Ali School of Ecology, 55 pp.

2.      De La Brière, B. 1990. Title unknown. Mémoire de DEA Analyse et Modélisation des Systèmes Biologiques, Université Claude Bernard, Lyon I, 30 pp.

3.      Sinha A. 1990. Seed dispersal ecology and recruitment patterns in Lophopetalum wightianum, a rain forest tree in the Western Ghats. M.Sc. Dissertation, Salim Ali School of Ecology, Pondicherry University, 77 pp.

4.      Cousin S. & Voyez A.-M. 1993. Dynamique d'une forêt dense humide sempervi­rente des Ghâts occidentaux (Inde) sur une période de sept ans. Conséquences d'une coupe sélective et des incendies. Mémoire de stage de 3ème année, Formation des ingénieurs forestiers, Ecole nationale du génie rural, des eaux et forêts, Nancy, 175 pp.

5.      Curtet L. 1993. Le processus de substi­tu­tion dans la régénération de la forêt dense tropicale humide d’Uppangala. Études préliminaires. Mémoire de DEA Analyse et Modélisation des Systèmes Biologiques, Université Claude Bernard, Lyon I, 30 pp.

6.      Derouet L. 1994. Étude de la variabilité structurale de huit populations d’arbres en forêt tropicale humide (Forêt d’Up­pangala, Inde). Mémoire de DEA Analyse et Modélisation des Systèmes Biologiques, Université Claude Bernard, Lyon I, 30 pp.

7.      Laborde H. 1994. Forêts sempervirentes des Ghâts occidentaux : bilan dynamique. Mémoire de fin d’étude, Mastère de sciences forestières, ENGREF (Nancy) & Institut français de Pondichéry, 82 pp.

8.      Aravajy S. 1995. Phenology of arborescent species in a tropical evergreen forest, Western Ghats (Uppangala), Karnataka. M. Phil. Dissertation, Centre for Post-Graduate Studies, Pondicherry, 41 pp.

9.      Moravie, M.-A. 1995. Modèle de dynamique de peuplements plurispécifiques inéquiennes (application à un peuplement forestier tropical d’Inde). Rapport technique. DEA Analyse et Modélisation des Systèmes Biologiques. Université Claude Bernard, Lyon 1. 31 pp.

10.  Dufour A. 1996. Analyse de la croissance des arbres en fonction des conditions de topographie et de voisinage. Rapport de stage de magistère, Université Claude Bernard, Lyon I, 31 pp.

11.  Krishnan, R.M. 1996. Dispersion pattern & sex ratio of Agrostistachys indicus. Thesis type unknown.

12.  Jagadeshan S. 1996. Regeneration potential of some important tree species in the tropical wet evergreen forests of Uppangala, Western Ghats. M.Sc. dissertation, Univ. of Pondicherry, Salim Ali School of Ecology, 32 pp.

13.  Riat E. 1997. Les Calamus d'une forêt sempervirente (Karnataka, Inde): rôle dans la sylvigenèse. Mémoire de D.E.S.S. university unknown.

14.  Lortet, J. 1998. Formation de groupes d’espèces homogènes pour la croissance dans la forêt dense humide d’Uppangala, Inde. Rapport technique, DEA Analyse et Modélisation de Systèmes Biologiques, Université Claude Bernard, Lyon 1.

15.  Robert, A. 1998. Modélisation de l’influence de la topographie sur l’asymètrie des houppiers et sur l’accroissement des arbres: application à une forêt dense tropicale (Forêt d’Uppangala – Inde). Rapport technique, DEA Analyse et Modélisation des Systèmes Biologiques, Université Claude Bernard, Lyon 1. 32 pp.

16.  Garcia, F. 1999. Identification et analyse de structures particulières occasionnant des dysfonctionnements de la dynamique dans une forêt dense humide du Sud de l’Inde. Rapport technique, DEA Analyse et Modélisation de Systèmes Biologiques, Université Claude Bernard, Lyon 1.

17.  Le Bec, J. 2011. Modélisation de la mortalité́ des arbres en foreêt tropicale humide : dispositif permanent d’Uppangala dans les Ghaâts occidentaux d’Inde. Master 2R Ecologie, Biodiversité, Evolution, Univ. Paris-Sud. 35 p. (Dir. R. Pélissier & B. Courbaud).

18.  Ploton, P. 2010. Analyzing canopy heterogeneity of the tropical forests by texture analysis of very-high resolution images. Double Master Degree in Nature and Forest Conservation, Ecole Supérieure d’Agriculture d’Angers & Univ. Wageningen, Pays-Bas. 88 pp. (Dir. R. Pélissier, J. den Ouden & J. Clevers).

19.  Le Bec, J. 2010. Réflexion sur l'intégration de la diversité spécifique dans la modélisation de la dynamique des peuplements forestiers : Dispositif d'Uppangala dans les Ghâts occidentaux du sud de l'Inde. Mémoire de stage à l'étranger, Formation des Ingénieurs Forestiers, ENGREF, Nancy, 25 pp. (Dir. R. Pélissier).

20.  Flavenot, T. 2009. Biomass estimation for the tropical wet evergreen forest of the Western Ghats. Rapport de stage de 2ème année, Diplôme d'Agronomie Générale, AgroParisTech, Paris, 82 pp. (Dir. R. Pélissier & S. Chailloux).

21.  Renard, Q. 2009. Modeling of fire occurrences in the Western Ghats of India. Rapport interne, Institut Français de Pondicherry, 153 pp. (Dir. R. Pélissier).

22.  Hmimina, G. 2008. Mise au point et calibration d’un modèle de porosité de houppier et de régénération pour 5 espèces d’arbres des Ghâts Occidentaux. Rapport de stage de 2ème année, Diplôme d'Agronomie Générale, AgroParisTech, Paris, 54 pp. (Dir. R. Pélissier & S. Chailloux).

IFP publications

1.      Loffeier, E. 1989. Sylviculture et sylvigénèse en forêt sempervirente du Coorg (Sud-ouest de l’Inde). Institut Français de Pondichéry, Travaux de Section Scientifique et Technique, 26, 211 pp.

2.      Pélissier, R. 1997. Hétérogénéité spatiale et dynamique d’une forêt dense humide dans les Ghâts occidentaux de l’Inde. Institut français de Pondichéry, Publications du département d'écologie, 37, 148 pp.

3.      Elouard, C., Houllier, F., Pascal, J.-P., Pélissier, R. & Ramesh, B.R. 1997. Dynamics of the dense moist evergreen forests - Long term monitoring of an experimental station in Kodagu District (Karnataka, India). Institut français de Pondichéry, Pondy Papers in Ecology, 1, 23 pp.

4.      Houllier, F., Caraglio, Y., Durand, M. 1997. Modelling tree architecture and forest dynamics. A research project in the dense moist evergreen forests of the Western Ghats (South India). Institut français de Pondichéry, Pondy Papers in Ecology, 2, 37 pp.

5.      Durand, M. 1997. Architecture and growth strategy of two evergreen species of the Western Ghats (South India) Knema attenuata (Myristicaceae) and Vateria indica (Dipterocarpaceae). Pondy Papers in Ecology, 3, 39 pp.

6.      Elouard, C. & Krishnan, R.M.  1999. Assessment of forest biological diversity. A FAO training course. 2. Case study in India. Institut français de Pondichéry, Pondy Papers in Ecology, 5, 75 pp.

Papers in collective books

1.      De Franceschi, D. & Tissot, C. 1991. Spider webs as natural pollen traps: preliminary results. Pp. 63-63 In Proceedings of the 6th National Conference on Aerobiology, Institut Français de Pondichéry, Publications du département d’écologie n°30, Pondicherry, India.

2.      Pascal, J.-P., Pélissier, R., Loffeier, E. & Ramesh, B.R. 1998. Floristic composition, structure, diversity, and dynamics of two evergreen forest plots in Karnataka State, India. Chapter 29, pp 507-519 in Dallmeier, F. & Comiskey, J.A. (Eds), Man And the Biosphere Series Vol. 20, Forest biodiversity research, monitoring and modeling: conceptual background and old word case studies. Smithonian Institution Press, Washington D.C., UNESCO, Paris and The Parthenon Publishing Group.

3.      Moravie, M.-A., Pascal, J.-P. & Auger, P. 1999. Trends in forest modelling. Pp.  In Blasco, F. & Weill, A. (Eds.) Advances in Environmental and Ecological Modelling. Programme Environnement du CNRS & Elsevier, SAS.

Papers in Conferences

1.      Durand M., Caraglio Y., Houllier F. 1995. Architecture d’un arbre à métamorphose et ses variations selon le milieu : l’exemple de Vateria indica L. (Dipterocarpaceæ). Poster, 3ème colloque international L’arbre (Montpellier, France, 11-16/09/95).

2.      Gimaret C., Pélissier R. & Pascal J.-P. 1996. Estimation et variations de la richesse et de la diversité spécifiques en forêt sempervirente humide. Poster, Symposium Biodiversité et fonctionnement des écosystèmes (12-14/06/96), Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris.

3.      Madelaine, C., Pélissier, R., Pascal, J.-P., Ramesh, B. R., Aravajy, S., Ramalingam, S. & Couteron, P. 2007. Long-term monitoring of the dynamics of a primary evergreen forest in the Western Ghats of India: Results and prospects. Poster presented at the Inaugural Conference of the Asian Chapter of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation "Averting biodiversity Meltdown in the Asian tropics". GRT Temple Bay, Mahabalipuram, India, 6th-8th March 2007.

4.      S. Jeyakumar, K. Rajarathinam, N. Ayyappan. Study of the natural restoration in the selectively logged evergreen forests at Uppangala, central Western Ghats. In "Biodiversity Asia 2012: Science, Policy, and Governance", The 2nd Asia Regional Conference of the Society for Conservation Biology – Asia Section, August 7-10, 2012, JN Tata Auditorium, IISc Campus, Bengaluru (Bangalore), India

5.      S. Jeyakumar, K. Rajarathinam, N. Ayyappan. Ecological inventory of tree species in the lowland dipterocarp forest at Uppangala, central Western Ghats. In "International Symposium and XXII Annual conference of Indian Association for Angiosperm Taxonomy on Innovative Prospects in Angiosperm Taxonomy" (ISIPAT-2012) October 28-30, 2012, Sant Gadge Baba Amravati University, Maharastra, India.

6.      S. Jeyakumar , K. Rajarathinam and N. Ayyappan, 2013. Diversity and distribution of ethano-medicinal tree species from central Western Ghats, Karnataka. In "Emerging trends in medicinal plants and herbal products", December 12-13, 2013, VHNSN College, Virdhunagar.

7.      Ayyappan, N., Ramesh, B.R., Aravajy, S., Ramalingam, S., Barathan, N., Jeyakumar, S., Muthusankar, G., Balachandran, N., Cécile Antin, Jimmy Le Bec, Jean-Pierre Pascal, Raphaël Pélissier and François Munoz. 2017. Dynamics of tree diversity in undisturbed evergreen forest at uppangala, central western ghats. . In Fourth Indian Biodiversity Congress (IBC2017), March 10-12, 2017. Puducherry

8.      François Munoz, Sylvain Schmitt, Valérie Raevel, Maxime Réjou-Méchain, Ayyappan, N., Balachandran, N. and Barathan, N. 2017. Wood and leaf strategies in a low-elevation rainforest of western ghats. . In Fourth Indian Biodiversity Congress (IBC2017), March 10-12, 2017. Puducherry

External team members

Originator of UPSP: Jean-Pierre Pascal, Loffeier, Ramesh

Successor of UPSP (Researchers): Pélissier, Moravie, C. Elouard, C. Vega, P. Grard, M. Réjou-Méchain, F. Munoz

Participants: J. Prosperi, C. Antin, Le Bec, Ruksan Bose, Jeyakumar, Krishnaswamy, Orukaimani, Jeyapalan, Ramalingam, Aravajy, Barathan, Dharanidharan, Saravanan, Ramanujam, Anthappa Gowda, Obaya Gowda and Manoj, Ariane, Ahmed, T. Flavenot, F. Jerome, Jules, P. Ploton, Q. Renard, Anais, Valerie Raevel, Sylvain Schmitt