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3 (1&2) : 41-45, 2009
PHYTO-SOCIOLOGICAL TRANSFORMATIONS IN BURNT LANTANA
CAMARA L. INVADED COMMUNITIES IN CONTEXT OF UNBURNT
INVADED AND NON-INVADED PLANT COMMUNITIES
P. K. DOBHAL*, D. R. BATISH AND R. K. KOHLI
Department of Botany, Panjab University, Chandigarh - 160 014, INDIA
E-mail: dobhalp1@yahoo.co.in
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION
Invasion of Lantana camara L. is one of the greatest threats to native flora of
India and many other countries throughout the tropics (Parsons and
Cuthbertson, 2001; Kohli et al., 2006). Owing to its enormous potential to
interfere with natural ecosystems, L. camara is considered as one of world’s
top 100 invasive species and top 10 worst weeds of the world (IUCN,
2004; Sharma et al., 2005). Many measures such as chemical spraying,
mechanical uprooting, burning and biological control are employed either
singly or in combinations to control L. camara invasion. Fire is one of the
cheapest methods for controlling L. camara. However, mature weed is fire
tolerant and generally grow more thickly from seeds and basal shoots present
in the soil (Gentle and Duggin, 1998; Day et al., 2003). In the absence of
weed control after burning the cover of L. camara increases in accelerating
fashion with declining canopy cover (Cummings and Reid, 2008). Thus,
fire alone can’t be regarded as a perfect controlling measure to L. camara
invasion and it becomes important to know that what changes fire brings to
structure of flora in L. camara invaded localities. Human activity is generally
regarded as the principle cause of forest fires in India (Saha and Howe,
2001; Hiremath and Sundaram, 2005). In current study area in Garhwal
Himalaya, there remains a possibility that people may set huge thickets of
L. camara to fire as later interfere with their daily life by reducing fodderplants,
fuel-wood in the nearby forest and blocking the local paths. Therefore,
present study was carried out to evaluate changes brought in vegetation
structure of L. camara invaded localities after a fire, and to compare
these simultaneously with unburnt L. camara invaded and non-invaded (L.
camara free) localities.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The study was carried out in community forest area of Nayar region of
district Pauri Garhwal (29° 45’ to 30°15’ N Latitude and 78° 24’ to 79°
23’ E Longitude), of Uttarakhand state, in North India. Three types of
localities: A) Burnt L. camara invaded: L. camara invaded locality which
was accidently burnt and regenerated for two years, B) L. camara invaded:
unburnt, and C) Non-invaded: L. camara free locality that served as control;
hereafter termed as localities A, B and C were subjected to detailed phytosociological
analysis. It was learned by locals and visual analysis of localities,
that historically, all of localities had similar structure of native flora. After
determining species-area-curve size, a quadrat of 4 x 4 m 2 was selected and
Three types of localities; burnt Lantana
camara L. invaded, unburnt Lantana
invaded and unburnt non-invaded
(Lantana free) localities were subjected
to phyto-sociological studies. In this
context, species richness, diversity,
density, frequency, abundance, basal
area and importance values were
determined. L. camara invaded localities
were found to have lesser values of all
these parameters under study. In
comparison to unburnt locality, overall
status of Lantana was elevated in burnt
Lantana invaded locality. In terms of
species richness and diversity burnt
Lantana locality after two years of
regeneration was found nearly similar to
unburnt Lantana invade locality. In
comparison to unburnt localities, in burnt
localities there was an increase in overall
basal area, frequency of plants. However,
the trend was opposite for density and
abundance. Burning had negative impact
on climbers and herbs whereas positive
on under-shrubs. However, the most
favoured species after burning of infested
localities was the target Lantana itself.
KEY WORDS
Lantana
Burning
Richness, Diversity
Under-shrub
Received : 19.01.2009
Revised : 26.02.2009
Accepted : 27.04.2009
*Corresponding author
41

P. K. DOBHAL et al.,
used uniformly at each location to assess herbs, shrubs
and trees with circumference less than hundred centimeters.
At each locality, 3 sites were selected, in each of them 30
quadrats were laid randomly. These studies were distributed
evenly over different season’s viz. summer, monsoon and
winter. So, in total 3 x 3 x 30 = 270 quadrats were laid
during period of one year. In each quadrat, plants of all
species were counted and noted in the field note book.
Basal area, frequency, density, abundance and importance
value index (IVI) were worked out following Misra (1968).
Various ecological indices of species richness, diversity
and evenness were calculated using the applicable
ecological software package given by Ludwig and Reynold
(1988), Biodiversity pro (McAleece, 1997) and Microsoft
excel. Significance of difference between ecological indices
for three localities was determined applying Tukey’s test,
at p< 0.05 and 0.1 for one-way analysis of variance
(ANOVA), using SPSS software.
Following ecological indices were considered for qualitative
evaluation of all localities: species richness: Margalef’s
index (Margalef, 1958), Peet’s index (Peet, 1974); species
diversity: Fisher’s diversity index (Fisher et al., 1943),
Shannon’s index (Shannon and Weaver, 1963), Simpson’s
index (Simpson, 1949), Hill’s number N 1
and N 2
(Hill,
1973); Evenness (distribution of diversity): E 1
(Pielou, 1969)
, E 2
(Sheldon,1969).
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
I) Qualitative evaluation
In comparison to non-invaded localities, species richness
and diversity of L. camara invaded localities were
significantly depleted. There was insignificantly higher
richness and diversity in burnt L. camara invaded locality
in comparison to unburnt invaded locality and the overall
situation remained same even after burning (Table 1).
Localities A and B were never found significantly different
in terms of any parameter mentioned above.
In comparison to non-invaded localities there was
significantly large decrease of 21.3 and 25.3% in number
of species (N 0
) found in Burnt as well as Unburnt L. camara
invaded localities respectively. The decrease in species
richness was revealed more clearly with significantly large
decrease of 43.5 and 43.8% in Peet index (P) for locality
A and B respectively, when they were compared with C
locality. Similar trend was shown by Margalef index (R 1
)
of species richness. The diversity of species was also
significantly low in localities A and B. Fisher’s diversity
index (α), valued 11.33 ± 0.63 in C locality whereas for
localities A and B, it was 9.78 ± 0.98 and 8.93 ± 0.46
respectively. The reduction in diversity was also indicated
by values of Shannon’s index (H’) and Hills number (N 1
),
which were significantly lower for localities B and A
compared to C (non-invaded control) locality. The higher
values of Simpson’s index (λ) 0.07 ± 0.02 and 0.08 ±
0.02 respectively for A and B locality with respect to 0.05
for C locality also indicated lower diversity status of these
localities in comparison to control locality. Although,
diversity of A, B and C localities was not significantly
different in terms of Hills number (N 2
) which was also
greater for non-invaded localities. The values of Evenness
(E 1
) were approximately 0.80 to 0.82; while, those of
Evenness (E 2
) were approximately 0.45 to 0.47 for all three
localities under study. Thus distribution of diversity among
species was nearly same for all localities.
The reduced richness and diversity of B locality may be
attributed to dense canopy and ability of L. camara to
absorb essential nutrients despite of nutrient deficient
condition (Bhatt et al., 1994). This condition may have
deprived other species from light and nutrient resources.
Although in locality A, L. camara cover was burnt, it
recovered within two years and as demonstrated by values
of different ecological indices the condition remained
almost similar to unburnt L. camara invaded B locality.
Table 1: Evaluation of different parameters associated with richness and diversity in; Burnt L. camara invaded, Unburnt L.
camara Invaded and Non-invaded localities
Parameters associated with species richness
Type of Locality
and diversity and distribution A Burnt B Unburnt C Non-invaded
L.camara-invaded L.camara-invaded
Richness Number of species (N 0
) 51.67 ± 5.51* 49.00 ± 3.00* 65.67 ± 2.52
Peet’s index (P) 2290.6 ± 514.5* 2296.5 ± 431.7* 4055.8 ± 565.3
Margalef’s index (R 1
) 6.70 ± 0.60* 6.25 ± 0.28* 7.86 ± 0.32
Diversity Fisher’s diversity index (α) 9.78 ± 0.98* 8.93 ± 0.46** 11.33 ± 0.63
Shannon’s index (H’) 3.14 ± 0.13* 3.07 ± 0.17** 3.42 ± 0.04
Simpson’s index (λ) 0.07 ± 0.02 0.08 ± 0.02 0.05 ± 0.00
Hills number N 1
23.21 ± 3.08* 21.70 ± 3.64* 30.72 ± 1.21
Hills number N 2
14.30 ± 3.39 13.59 ± 4.01 19.64 ± 0.99
Evenness Evenness E 1
0.80 ± 0.02 0.79 ± 0.03 0.82 ± 0.00
Evenness E 2
0.45 ± 0.04 0.44 ± 0.05 0.47 ± 0.01
* Significantly different at level p< 0.05* and 0.1** from associated C localities, as estimated by Tukey’s test.
42

PHYTO-SOCIOLOGICAL TRANSFORMATIONS
Figure 1: Comparison of three types of localities under study, in terms of: a) total of either Basal area, Frequency, Density
and Abundance, b) Basal area, Frequency, Density, Abundance and Importance Value Index (IVI) for L. camara against
respective sum of values for all other remaining species
II) Quantitative evaluation
Quantitative evaluation in terms of basal area, frequency,
density and abundance for all there localities under study
showed that in comparison to non-invaded C locality,
localities A and B had lesser total (sum of values for each
species) of values representing basal area or frequency or
density or abundance (Fig. 1a). Locality A had greater basal
area and frequency in comparison to B localities but the
situation was reversed in case of density and abundance.
The higher basal area of A locality was mainly due to
post burning increase in basal area and frequency of L.
camara. This may be owned to increased suckering and
thickness of stem of mature L. camara plants (Gentle and
Duggin, 1998). The higher overall frequency of plants in
A in comparison to B locality, may be due to burnt /
depleted L. camara cover, which facilitated more regular
growth of species in all available space including that in
immediate vicinity of L. camara stem, earlier being covered
by L. camara canopy. On the other hand there was lesser
plant density in A in comparison to B locality, which
was due to destruction of established seedlings with fire.
Destruction of seed bank following fires may also be a
factor in decreased density of plants in burnt invaded
localities.
As a clear manifestation of monoculture of L. camara, in
A and B localities the value of basal area of L. camara
was respectively 303.06 ± 41.60 and 236.20 ± 16.84%
higher in comparison to sum of basal area of all other
species (Fig. 1b). The overall density of A and B localities
was also influenced by increased density of L. camara.
Following L. camara invasion and burning, there was an
overall change in IVI values of different species. IVI of L.
camara was major contributor to overall IVI of A and B
localities; its contribution was 33.96 ± 2.25% and 30.98
± 1.56% respectively for these localities. These values
were respectively 51.54 ± 5.06 and 44.92 ± 3.24 % of
sum of IVI of all other species excluding L. camara. Thus,
higher values of overall basal area and frequency of locality
A compared with B was mainly due to L. camara, and
increase in these values cannot be considered as an increase
in status of majority of plants species (excluding L.
camara), after burning of L. camara invaded localities.
III) Evaluation in terms of life forms
The available data when analysed on the basis of life forms
namely climber, herb, shrub, tree and under-shrub provided
an image of changes that occurred in the status of these
life forms following - first, L. camara invasion and, second,
further burning of invaded area (Fig. 2). In comparison to
non-invaded C locality, L. camara invaded localities A
and B had lesser representative species of each life form.
Thus, no life form was specifically resistant to L. camara
invasion (Fig. 2a). There was negative impact of fire and
L. camara duo on climber, shrub and tree species. In
comparison to locality B there were more representative
herb and under-shrub species in A localities while other
life forms i.e. climber, shrub and tree had lesser
representatives.
The L. camara invasion had highly negative impact on tree
species a factor which may be responsible for reduced
natural regeneration of forests (Morton, 1994; Ambika et
al., 2003). The sum of IVI of all tree species from L. camara
invaded (A and B) localities was merely 38 to 39% of
their corresponding value of non-invaded C locality (Fig.
2b). Though the proportion of shrubs from A and B
localities in total IVI was more than that of C locality,
there was large reduction (up to 50%) in total IVI of shrubs
other than L. camara (Fig. 2b, marked area). Therefore,
overall higher value of IVI of shrubs in invaded localities
was mainly due to L. camara. Further, increased IVI of
shrubs in burnt L. camara invaded A locality in comparison
43

P. K. DOBHAL et al.,
Figure 2: Status of different life forms in three types of localities under study, in terms of: a) representative species, b) per
cent share in IVI (represented as per cent of corresponding percent share in Non-invaded localities)
to unburnt L. camara invaded B locality was also due to
L. camara, which was an evidence increase in influence
of L. camara in post fire invaded localities (Fig. 2b).
Burnt L. camara invaded locality had reduced value of IVI
of climbers and herbs (despite higher number of herb
species) in comparison to that of unburnt invaded locality,
once again indicating the negative impact of burning L.
camara thickets (Fig. 2a & b). Only one life form i.e. undershrub
was found to have positive impact of burning L.
camara invaded B localities. The number of representative
under-shrubs from A locality was equal to C locality, while
it was more than B locality (Fig. 2a). The total of IVI of
under-shrubs in “A” locality was 115.2% of corresponding
value of non-invaded C localities. The situation was better
than unburnt L. camara invaded B localities where the
sum of IVI of under-shrubs was 73% of C localities (Fig.
2b).
Thus it was concluded that L. camara invaded localities
were depleted in species richness and diversity. Burning
of invaded locality led to increase in species richness and
diversity but never significantly. The overall basal area
and frequency of plants was also greater in burnt invaded
locality. But, these manifestations could not be considered
as a green signal for burning of L. camara invaded localities,
because the species which gained maximum after burning
of infested localities was the target Lantana itself. Burning
led to change in overall status of importance (IVI) of
different life forms. Under-shrub was the only life form
which was found to have increased its status of importance
in burnt invaded locality. The overall IVI of shrubs also
increased in burnt invaded locality but it was exclusively
due to increased IVI of L. camara. Thus, fire without follow
up with suitable plantation can not be recommended as a
strategy against L. camara invasion as it ultimately benefits
to invader itself.
AKNOWLEDGEMENT
Authors are thankful to University Grant Commission
(India), for providing financial assistance.
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