Center for Tropical Forest Science-Arnold Arboretum Asia Program
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Center for Tropical Forest Science-Arnold Arboretum Asia Program
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Mudumalai, IndiaIn 1988, the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore and STRI set up a Forest Dynamics Plot in Mudumalai Game Reserve in the eastern foothills of the Western Ghat Mountains of Southern India. The Mudumalai forest is seasonal semi-evergreen lowland forest, typical of the lowland dry teak forest of the Indian subcontinent. Mudumalai is much less diverse than the other Forest Dynamics Plots surveyed to date, with 76 species and about 26,000 stems. The forest is an open-canopy woodland with grass cover that is subject to nearly annual fires and to browsing by large herds of elephants. A major focus, with significance for forest management practices through much of India, is the impact of fire and elephants on forest regeneration. The plot is recensused every year, although diameter measurements are not taken during every census. Remeasurement censuses have occurred in 1992 and 1997.
Mudumalai FDP Snapshot Year Initiated: 1988 Census Schedule: annual; diameter measurements in 1988, 1992, 1997 Plot Size: 50 ha Altitude: 980-1120 m Rainfall: 1205 mm Dry Season: 6 months Number of Species: 69 Number of Trees: 16,500
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CTFS-AA Asia Program, 22 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138 · Tel: 1-617-495-1494 · Fax: 1-617-495-9484 · E-mail: ctfs@oeb.harvard.edu |