Forest ecosystem

Types of forest, forest ecology, abundance and distribution of different

forest
Definition: FAO (food and agriculture organization) defines forest as a
land spanning moe than 0.5 hectare with trees higher than 5 meters and a
canopy cover of more than 10 percent, or trees able to reach these
thresholds in situ. It does not include land that is predominantly under
agricultural or urban land use.
The word forest is derived from the Latin foris means outside, referring to
location outside the village boundary that would include uncultivated and
uninhabited land. In the modern time any land covered with trees, shrubs,
climbers, etc. and managed for the diverse purpose of forestry.
In general forest represents a community of trees and other woody
vegetation with a closed canopy set aside for production of timber and
other produce.
Ecosystem concept
Forests inhabit microbes, insects and wildlife i.e., all other jungle animals
and so fulfils the concept of ecosystem. That, it holds all the components
of ecosystem namely, biotic diversity, energy flow, trophic structure,
material recycles. So, each unit recognised as forest is an ecosystem.
Types of forests
Global
(1) Northern coniferous forest: Engelman spruce and alpine fir, Colorado
(2) Moist temperate coniferous forest: temperate rainforest, Olympic
National forest Washington, western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla),
arborvitae (Thuja plicata), grand fir (Abies grandis), douglas fir
(Pseudotsuga ), red wood (Sequoia)
(3) Temperate deciduous: maple, oak, hickory, pine. North Carolina
(4) Borad leaved evergreen sub-tropical: moisture high, temperature
difference between winter and summer negligible
(5) Tropical rain forest: Amazon, Congo, Niger, Zambezi basin, Indo-
Malay-Borneo-New Guinea
(6) Tropical scrub and deciduous forest: Africa, Australia, Brazil
Forest ecology
Fundamental to it is that ‘regional climates interact with regional biota
and substrate to produce large, easily recognisable community units,
called biomes’. Forest is a part of a biome which shows climatic climax
vegetation but it should also fulfil the definition of forest as stated by
FAO.
So, temperature, rainfall, humidity, solar radiation, altitude, latitude,
longitude, edaphic factors, topography all together work to create a
characteristic forests of an area. So, it is a vast subject.
Bangladesh forests
In Bangladesh, agricultural land makes 65% and forest 17.5% of the
total area. Essentially there are six different forests in Bangladesh
(1) Forests of Chittagong Hill Tracts: tropical semi-evergreen to wet-
green, deciduous. Dipterocarpus turbinatus, Artocarpus champ,
Swintonia floribunda, Toona ciliata, etc.
(2) Forests of Chittagong and Cox’s Bazar: in addition above mentioned
tree species others are Hopea odorata, Pterygota alata, etc.
(3) Forests of Sylhet: evergreen forests, Elaeocarpus robustus, Amoora
wallichi, Bombax ceiba, etc.
(4) Sal forest: mostly tropical moist deciduous, Shorea robusta, Adina
cordifolia, Albizia procera, Butea monosperma, etc.
5. The Sundarbans: Tidal littoral mangrove forests, area 5,77,000 ha., vast
deltaic swamp criss crossed by dense network of rivers and channels.
Dominant tree Heritiera fomes, Excoecaria agallocha, Bruguiera sexangula,
etc.
6. Homestead forest: grow in the traditional land use system of Bangladesh.
Occur via ecological and anthropogenic selections. Common tree Albizia
procera, Aphanamixis polystachya, Artocarpus heterophyllus, Mangifera
indica, etc.
Mangroves
Portuguese - for tree ‘mangue’ and English - trees (grove), form intertidal
communities on protected, tropical to subtropical coasts and atolls, composed of
diverse trees, shrubs.
Classification
(1) Coastal fringe: occur along protected shoreline berms (=strips)
(2) Overwash: low intertidal islands
(3) Riverine: along rivers, streams, often extending several miles inland. Trees usually
largest in riverine forests due to availability of freshwater, nutrients and sediments
(4) Basin mangroves: occur in depressions or basins behind berm or fringing
mangals, connoted to freshwater streams, coastal waters via tidal creeks, being
inland, smaller, more limited flora due to fluctuations of salinity and prolonged
periods of flooding
(5) Scrub mangroves: abiotic conditions strong due to limited exchange of water,
poor water exchange, low nutrients, increased soil salinities (due to evaporation) or
water logging, dwarf mangroves appears to reflect P limitations
(6) Hammock forests: inland tropical wetlands, isolated by freshwater, in subtropical
areas, hammock mangals replaced by salt marshes due to low temperatures or
frost. (Fig. 10-2, Dawes, p. 269)
Adaptations
occur in sheltered tropical depositional and saline environments, with plants being
exposed to salt water, causing expenditure of energy to conserve. Hence, mangroves
have xeric and halophytic adaptations similar to salt marsh plants, including growth in
aerobic, saline, and frequently waterlogged sediment.
General adaptive features of mangroves:
(1) Trees show mechanical adaptations for attachment in soft or loose substrata
(2) Aerial roots common, show specialization for diffusion of gases to subterranean
parts
(3) Vivipary or germination of seedlings while fruit remains attached to tree, e.g.,
Sonneretia apetala, Bangla name ‘Keora’
(4) seedlings can survive salt water and utilize seawater as a means of dispersal
(5) Trees exhibit xerophytic and halophytic modifications
Taxonomy
26 genera and 66 species do prevail in mangroves of world. Highest species (shown
in the parentheses) are recorded for Sonneratia (9), Rhizophora (9), Avicennia (8),
Bruguiera (5) followed by Cereops (3), Excoecaria (2), Xylocarpa (2).
58 species present in Old world (Africa, Europe and Asia before contact with
Americas) and 12 species in New world (Earth’s Western Hemisphere, specifically
Americas and nearby islands, such as Caribbean and Bermuda). Besides, one palm
species namely Nypa fruticans occur in mangroves.
Independent adaptation to flowering plants to tropical tidal habitats actually created
mangorves.
Most genera have characteristics:
(1) Species are restricted to mangroves
(2) Trees exhibit a major role in community structure
(3) Plants show morphological specializations including aerial roots and vivipary
(4) Plants exhibit salt exclusion physiology and (5) Taxonmic isolation from
terrestrial relatives occurs at least at the generic level
Evolution and Biogeographic distribution
Two main centers of mangrove diversity:
Old World and New World
Latitudinal distribution limited to 24°C isotherm (Fig. 9-6), presence of mangals in
subtropical latitudes reflects patterns of warm ocean currents and historical tolerance
of mangroves e.g., Gulf of Mexico waters support mangrove forests up to 27°C on
west coast of Florida, while Kandelia candel extends into southern Japan
Subtropical mangals are more common at higher latitudes in Northern Hemisphere,
presumably because of their greater tolerance to cold than within southern
hemisphere
Thus, Avicennia germinans is found as shrub on Texas coast of Gulf of Mexico.
Overall, highest latitude where mangrove forests (stunted, scrub) occur is in
Westonport Bay, Victoria, Australia.
Origin of mangrove
Center of origin hypothesis
Mangrove diversity in indo-Pacific may indicate either an evolutionary center of
retention of more species in that region, particularly with respect to Western
Hemisphere with its reduced diversity
Fossil pollen deposits, suggests - present Western Hemisphere floras are relics of
historically diverse mangals. Evolution and present distribution of mangroves, in part,
may be due to separation of Gondwanaland during late Cretaceous
Vicariance hypothesis
Mangroves and seagrasses evolved in early Cretaceous Period when early
Angiosperms were migrating into shallow seas between separating continents. Based
on history of plate tectonics, separation of Gondwanaland occurred in late Cretaceous
Period.
Formation of continents resulted in land and oceanic barriers allowed speciation of
mangroves and seagrasses.
Vicariance hypothesis can be used to explain presence of sister species Rhizophora,
Avicennia having similar features, are oldest mangroves with other genera evolving
after separation of continents, but poorly understood because of fossil record defficiency
Global warming and Greenhouse effects on mangroves
Sea level rise - long term question regarding survival of mangroves, for low island
mangals with sedimentation rate 8-9 cm/100 y, indicate that they would be drowned if
eustatic increases in sea level are greater than 12 cm/100 y (present rate), increases
30-100 cm/100 y.
Physical factors coupled with rise in sea level, e.g., decreased rain fall, runoff,
increased salinity, cold cause sediment loss via decomposition of organic sediment,
decreased mangrove production.
However, fluctuations in sea level have been rapid on historical basis and mangrove
forests have persisted through Quaternary despite substantial changes in sea level.
Top left: CS of leaf of Avicennia germinas. H= hydrocytes, cover the pm=palisade
mesophyll and sm=spongy mesophyll tissues. Veins occur in the central part of the
leaf, the lower epidermis is covered by hammer hairs (arrow) and contains sunken
s=stomata.Top right: CS of leaf of Rhizophora mangle, lacks epidermal hairs,
hypodermis contains one or more layers of t=tannin cells, and calcium oxalate druses
(arrow).
Morphological adaptations
Canopy and root architectural modifications shown in Fig. 10-5. (Dawes, p. 276) and
10-6, p.278).
Leaves generally ovate to elliptical, pointed in R. mangle or blunt to indented in
Languncularia racemosa tip, texture firm, leathery, flexible, secretory structures leaves
of R. mangle, petioles of L. racemosa, some cases function as salt glands in Avicennia
germinans.
Vegetative reproduction coppicing, resprouting as in Acivennia, Laguncularia,
Sonneretia, etc. able to reserve meristems
Anatomical adaptations: As noted for salt marsh plants leaf anatomy of mangroves
demonstrate conspicuous xerophytic features (Figs. 10-7 and 10-8, Dawes, p.279).
Sundarban, the mangrove forests of Bangladesh
UNESCO world heritage site. Systematic management started in 1860s.
Formed by super confluence of Ganges, Padma, Brahmaputra and Meghna across
southern Bangladesh
Area 10,000 sq. km of which 6,000 sq. km belongs to Bangladesh, rest goes to West
Bengal of India, altitude 0.9-2.11 m, inundated by high and low tides of Bay of Bengal,
one of words largest continuous block of mangrove forests
Total 245 genera and 334 plant species were recorded in 1903
Characterized by abundant populaiton of Sundari Tree Heritiera fomes, Gewa
Excoecaria agallocah, Goran Ceriops decandra and Keora Sonneretia apetala, Passur
Xylocarpus granatum, Kankra Bruguiera gymnorhiza. Among palms Poresia coarctata,
Myriostachya wightiana and Golpata Nypa fruticans and grasses like Imperata
cylindrica and Khagra Phragmites karka are well known. Tiger use bushes created by
Hantal Phoenix pelludosa and Tiger Fern Achrostichum aureum, forest full of amazing
biodiversity of plants and animals, with an exceptional natural beauty and reserve of
natural resources.
Location Map
Adaptive root system of mangrove trees
Strands of Golpata, with clear marks of high and low tide inundation by the sea
Adaptive features of breathing roots or pneumatophores
Showing excellent
relationships
between plants
and animals
Animal diversity:
Royal Bengal
Tiger and the
Deers
How the forest look from a distant

Tiger Fern
Threats to Sundarban
(1) Negative and natural anthropogenic impact, overexploitation of resources
(2) Growing human population in the vicinity of the forest
(3) Increase in the navigation in intersecting channels of the forest
(4) the rapid expansion of shrimp farming
(5) Illegal cutting and encroachment of forest areas and illegal poaching of wildlife, (6)
Pollution, which may have changed the biogeography of the forests
(7) Effects of global climate change.
Application of sustainable management strategies covering needs for advance
silvicultural system, improvement of scientific research are needed to conserve forests
Biodiversity of mangrove ecosystem
The floristic composition of the Sundarbans is rich compared to many
other mangroves of the world. Heritiera fomes (Sundri) and Excoecaria
agallocha (Gewa) are the principal species. H. fomes constitutes ~65%
of total merchantable timber. The record of total plant species by
different botanists at different times has been provided below.

Total plant
Publication year Genera Family
species

Heining (1892) 70 - 34

Prain (1903)
Sundarban and 334 245 75
adjacent areas

Chaffey and
66 58 34
Sandon (1985)
Forest cover in percentage (%) by single species or species complex
of plants

Forest cover of the total area

Species/complex
(%)

Heritiera fomes 21

H. fomes- Excoecaria agallocha 29.7

E. agallocha - H. fomes 14.8

Ceriops decandra - E. agallocha 14.46

Faunal composition
Some important animals of Sundarbans are Tiger (Panthera tigris), wild
boar (Sus scrofa) Rhesus Macaque (Macaca mulatta) and Otter (Lutra
perspicillata), estuarine crocodile (Crocodylus porous), Honey bee (Apis
dorsata)

Animal group Species number

Mammals 50
Birds 300
Reptile 50
Amphibians 8
Pelagic fish 53
Demersal fish 124
Shrimp 24
Crabs 7
Pelecypods 6
Locust lobster 8
Turtles 3
Temporal and spatial distribution
Temporal distribution means the change over time. In Sndarbans 3 surveys
were made to identify the temporal distribution. Those were carried out I.
1959, 1983 and 1996.
There is a decrease in canopy closure in recent year. In 1960, 78% of the
total are of the Sundarbans had a canopy closure of 75% of more. In 1996,
the situation worsened further. Predominant canopy class are those having
only 30% of more closure. In general the forest is more closed in the east
than than the west. Canopy closure in the east is usually more than 70%, in
the middle part it is between 30 and more than 70% and the western from
30- less than 70%.
Spatial distribution means the distribution of plant species according to the different
area of the community concerned. In Sundarbans, this kind of differences occur
 Spatial distribution
In the Sundarbans, the spatial distribution of plant species is dependent primarily on
the levels of salinity and other physicochemical factors. There are three different types
of saline zones present in the Sundarbans.

Characteristics Less saline Moderately saline Strongly saline

Soil texture Silt clay loam Silt clay Silt clay

Soil salinity (dS/m) 1-3 3.5-4.5 4-6

Water salinity (ppt) 5-15 15-25 25-30

Soil pH 7.7-8.2 6.7-8.1 7.7-8.2

Inundation (days/y) 75-120 105-135 135-150

Canopy closure (%) 60-100 40-80 30-70

Tree height (m) 15-20 10-15 3-5

Less saline: eastern and north-eastern part, receives freshwater from Ganges, soil gets
good deposition in each year.
Moderately saline: middle portion of forest
Strongly saline: south and western part of the forest
Spatial distribution as density of different species in various ecological
zones of the Sundarbans. (dbh=diameter at breast height of a plant)

Stems dbh 10 cm and above per ha

[soil salinity values in (dS/m)]
Species
Less saline Moderately saline Strongly saline Total
(1-3) (3.5-4.5) (4-6) (average%)
275
Heritiera fomes 434 354 37
(52.4)
Excoecaria 221
208 207 249
agallocha (42.1)
Sonneratia 3
2 5 2
apetala (0.5)
26
Others 37 19 22
(5)

Total 681 585 310 525

Average 227 195 103 525

% of Total 43.2 37.2 13.6 100

Species composition and diversity
Species composition means the total number and taxonomic list of species in a
given community. This list along with the species abundance (i.e., the occurrence of
an individual species population per unit area of a community) data, some further
useful information of a community could be calculated.
Among other information: Species diversity index, species richness, similarity
index, etc. could be computed.

Community dominance: From the total species of a community if the population of

a single species is more in number compared to others, then it is called dominant
species, the next would be the sub-dominant and followed by the other would be
the adominant. For example, analysing data given in the table presented before it
has been seen that in moderately saline zone, the dbh for H. fomes is 354,
Excoecaria agallocha is 207 and Sonneratia apetala is 5. This means that H. fomes
is the dominant species in the community of Sundarban. The rest of the two species
are sub-dominant and adominant, respectively.

Species richness: could be clarified as the number species within a community.

For example if we have two communities, A and B, and
A has 24 spp. of plants and community B has 84 spp. of plants. So, community B
has higher species richness
A community dominated by one or two species is considered to be less
diverse than one in which several different species have a similar
abundance.
Simpson's Diversity Index is a measure of diversity which takes into
account the number of species present, as well as the relative abundance of
each species. As species richness and evenness increase, so diversity
increases.
The value of D ranges between 0 and 1. With this index, 1 represents
infinite diversity and 0, no diversity.
To calculate Simpson's Index, two areas (natural vegetation and disturbed
vegetation) must be sampled using quadrats placed randomly or
systematically. The number of plant species within each quadrat, as well as
the number of individuals of each species should be noted. There is no
necessity to be able to identify all the species, provided they can be
distinguished from each other.
As an example, let us work out the value of D for a single quadrat sample
of ground vegetation in the Sundarbans. Of course, sampling only one
quadrat would not give you a reliable estimate of the diversity of the dune
flora. Several samples would have to be taken and the data pooled to give
a better estimate of overall diversity. The method used to optimise the
sampling is the Optimum Quadrat Size technique.
 Simpson's Index

D=1-[∑n(n-1)]/[N(N-1)]
Where,
n= the total number of individuals of a particular species
N= the total number of individuals of all species
Number (n)/100 m2
Species Quadrat n(n-1)
Heritiera fomes (Sundri) 8 56
Excoecaria agallocha (Gewa) 2 2
Sonneretia apetala (Keora) 1 0
Ceriops decandara (Goran) 1 0
Xylocarpus mekongensis (Pasur) 3 6
Total 15 64
Note: Arbitrary data N = 15 n(n-1) = 64
Now putting the values in the Simpson’s Index, we get
D=1-[∑n(n-1)]/[N(N-1)]
D=1- [64]/[N(N-1)] or D=1-[64/[15(15-1)] or D=1-[64/[15(14)]
or, D=1-[64/210] or D=1-0.3048 or 0.6952 or 0.7
Coefficient of similarity
The Jaccard similarity index (sometimes called the Jaccard similarity
coefficient) compares members for two sets to see which members are
shared and which are distinct. It is a measure of similarity for the two sets of
data with a range from 0% to 100%. The higher the percentage , the more
similar the two populations. Although it is easy to interpret, it is extremely
sensitive to small samples sizes and may give erroneous results, especially
with very small samples or data sets with missing observations.
The formula to find the index is:
Jaccard Index = (the number in both sets) / (the number in either set) * 100
In Steps, that is:
1. Count the number of members which are shared between both sets.
2. Count the total number of members in both sets (shared and un-shared).
3. Divide the number of shared members (1) by the total number of member
(2).
4. Multiply the number you found in (3) by 100
This percentage tells you how similar the two sets are.
• Two sets that share all members would be 100% similar. The closer to
100%, the more similarity (e.g., 90% is more similar than 89%).
• If they share no members, they are 0% similar
• The midway point -50%- means that the two sets share half of the
members
Examples
A simple example using set notation: How similar are these two
sets?
• A = {0,1,2,5,6}
• B = {0,2,3,4,5,7,9}
Solution: J(A,B) = ∣A∩B∣/∣A∪B∣ = ∣{0,2,5}∣/∣{0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,9}∣ = 3/9
= 0.33
Notes:
1. The cardinality of A, denoted ∣A∣ is a count of the number of
elements in set A.
2. Although it is customary to leave the answer in decimal form if
you are using set notation you could multiply by 100 to get a
similarity of 33.33%
Example problem without set notations: Researchers are
studying biodiversity in two rainforests. They catalog specimens
from six different species, A,B,C,D,E,F. Two species are shared
between the two rainforests. What is the Jaccard coefficient?

Solution:
1. Two species (3 and 5) are shared between both populations.
2. There are 6 unique species in the two populations
3. 2/6 = 1/3 * 100 = 33.33%
Rainforests A and B are 33% similar