Distribution and diversity of grasslands in the upper Palini hills
Student name: Ms Gargi Tariyal
Guide: Dr Joachim Michael Schmerbeck
Year of completion: 2014
Host Organisation: TERI University and University of Freiburg, Germany
Supervisor (Host Organisation): Dr Stefanie Gärtner
Abstract: The plant community composition and structure in the recent fire and old fire
grasslands of the Palni Hills was studied. In total 54 plots were laid down in
grassland for vegetation assessment. It was hypothesized that under recent fire
the species composition and diversity of the forest is negatively impacted. To
understand the role of slope and exposition in the species composition and
structure, comparisons were made between the north and south exposed sites
and gentle and steep slope categories grasslands of the study. The study reveals
that the species composition was significantly different for the recent fire and old
fire grasslands consisting of grass, herb and shrub vegetation respectively. The
diversity, richness was higher for the old fire grasslands in the lower and middle
layers in both the fire types of the grasslands. The north and south exposition did
not influence the species composition or diversity in the grasslands. The recent
fire grasslands were dominated by grasses, shrubs and ferns like Chrysopogon
zeylanicus , Strobilanthes kunthiana, Pteridium aquilinum in the and grasslands
with old fire were dominated by grasses, herbs and shrubs like Eulalia
trispicata, Hedyotis swertiodes, Strobilanthes kunthiana. Disturbances like
grazing and browsing were present in the grassland.
Keywords: Grassland, fire, grazing, disturbance, diversity and structure.
