A PROJECTON

ECOLOGICAL STUDY OF ECORESTORED MINE HABITATS OF MUSSOORIE HILLS

BYSARWAN KUMAR PAL

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCECHATRAPATI SHAHU JI MAHARAJ UNIVERSITY

KANPUR

INTRODUTION Mining and mineral processing adversely affects the ecology of the

area by disturbing the land mass, the water systems and floral-faunal populations and in turn the quality of human life. Garhwal Himalayas of Uttarakhand covering an area of 30, 000 km2 abound in forest, meadows, marshes and swamps with their characteristic plant composition. Mussoorie hills (Garhwal Himalayas of Uttarakhand, India) till early eighties faced a serious threat due to heavy limestone quarrying with 105 working mines in this region. After the cessation of mining activity restoration of these sites was undertaken by different agencies. The ecological restoration interventions were initiated in these areas during 1988-1989. Ecology of this region was adversely affected by large scale limestone quarrying.

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Maiti and Singh (2007 ) mentioned some important issues for research and

development in the field of ecorestoration as:

• Categorization of dumps based on reclamation potential and regeneration of ecosystem

• Drainage, sedimentation and erosion control

• Plantation of leguminous forbs and grasses as pioneer colony in dumps reclamation

• Ecorestoration technique of the forest area for Conservation of biodiversity and matching with surrounding landscape

• Soil ameliorants via Identification of suitable mulch and mulching technique2

OBJECTIVE• Phytosociological study of the ecorestored mines of

Chunakhala in Mussoorie hills Himalaya.

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DESCRIPTION OF STUDY AREA

Location Chunakhala limestone mine was situated on Dehradun-Mussoorie highway at a distance of 25 km from Dehradun. The elevation of the study site varied between 1300-1500 m above the mean sea level. Geographically the site is situated between the longitude 30°27’N and 78° 15’E

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Topography Topography is hilly with steep to highly steep slopes from bottom valley lands to the ridges at the top. Hap hazardous tree cuttings have also changed the topography of the area with predominance of deep gullies/drains and furrows. As the land is devoid of woody vegetation, landslides and landslips are frequent Climate The region experiences an average annual rainfall of 2,225 mm. The average temperature peaks during June to about 29o c and dips lowest in December January to an average of about 7oc. The area experiences snowfall during winter and minimum temperature frequently records below 0oc.

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MATERIALS AND METHOD Phyto - sociological studies • To assess the floristic composition of the re-vegetated site, the phyto

- sociological studies were carried out using quadrate method (Mishra , 1968) during the month of July 2015. Three sizes of quadrates 1x1m, 5x5m, and 10x 10 m were laid randomly for recording herbs and garasses , shrubs and tree vegetation respectively. Vegetation data were analyzed for frequency. Density, abundance, Importance value index (I.V.I) of plant species by applying the standard formulae (Curtis and Mc Intosh 1950; Curtis and Cottam , 1956 and Phillips, 1959).

• The diversity index was calculated according to Shannon-Wiener diversity index (1963).The plant basal diameter was measured with the help of measuring tape and digital caliper . The following parameters were determined as under:- 6

• Frequency Frequency expresses the distribution or dispersion of various species

in a community. • Density The term density represents the numerical strength or species in the

community. • Abundance Abundance is described as the number of individuals per quadrate of

occurrence . • Importance value Index The index has been developed to express the ecological success of

any species on a given site. It uses three characteristics viz. relative frequency. Relative density and relative dominance (Phillips, 1959).

I.V.I = Relative frequency + Relative density +Relative dominance 7

• Basal Area Basal area refers to the ground actually penetrated by the stems. It

is one of the chief characters determining dominance and the nature of the community. The basal area in case of herbaceous and shrub vegetation was measured on the ground level of plant. For tree species diameter was recorded at chest height (1.37m)

• Procedure An average 10-20 stems of each species were selected and

measured their diameters at chest height (dhh). The average diameter calculated for each species was used to calculate the basal area (sq.cm) .

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RESULT AND DISCUSSION In the Study area, all the three strata, viz. herb, shrub and tree were

present (Tables 1 to 3). In the study site tree layer was dominated by Cuppressus torulosa (IVI 157) followed by Debregeasia velutina (IVI, 83.3) and Tooa cilitata (IVI58.7). In shrub layer, Lepidagathis cuspidate (IVI 94.6), Rubus cotinus (IVI46.7) and Colebrookia oppositifolia (IVI 34.2), were the dominant taxa. Herb layer was dominated by Imperata cylindrical (IVI 79.8), Bidens biternata (IVI 50.9).

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Table -1 Ecological parameters of the TreesName of speices

Density(ha-1)

Frequency Abundance A/F Ratio Relative Density

Relative Frequency

Relative Dominance

IVI

Cupressus torulosa

100 75 1.33 0.01 57.14 60 89.16 157

Debregeasia velutina

50 25 2 0.08 28.57 20 9.95 83.3

Toona cilata 25 25 1 0.04 14.29 20 0.87 58.7

Total 100 100 100 300

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Table – 2 Ecological parameters of the shurbName of species

Density(ha-1)

Frequency Abundance A/F Ratio Relative Density

Relative Frequency

Relative Dominance

IVI

Lepidagathis cuspidate

2 100 2 2 21.6 15.3 57.6 94.6

Rubus cotinus

1.75 100 1.75 1.75 18.9 15.3 12.4 46.7

Dodonea viscose

0.25 25 1 4 2.7 3.8 0.02 6.5

Pogostemon bengelensis

0.25 25 1 4 2.7 3.8 0.05 6.6

Berberis lyceum

0.5 50 1 2 5.4 7.6 0.19 13.2

Colebrookea opositifolia

1.25 75 1.6 2.1 13.5 11.5 9.5 34.5

Agave sislana

0.25 25 1 4 2.7 3.8 0.10 6.6

Lantana camara

0.5 50 1 2 5.4 7.6 2.60 15.7

Eupatorium adenophorum

0.5 25 0.5 2 5.4 3.8 0.15 9.4

Woodfordia fruticosa

0.25 25 1 4 2.7 3.8 0.03 6.5

Debregeasia salicifolia

0.5 50 1 2 5.4 7.6 17.1 30.2

Hypericum oblongifolium

0.5 50 1 2 5.4 7.6 0.06 13.1

Reinwardtia indica

0.5 25 2 8 5.4 3.8 0.00 9.2

Valaris Spp

0.25 25 1 4 2.7 3.8 0.01 6.5

Total 100 100 100 30011

Table-3 Ecological parameters of the HerbName of species

Density(ha-1) Frequency(%)

Abundance A/F Ratio Relative Density

Relative Frequency

Relative Dominance

IVI

Oplismenus composites

15000 50 3 0.06 12.5 9 0.3 21.9

Bidens biternata

37500 75 5 0.06 31.2 13.6 6 50.9

Imperata cylindrical

17500 75 2.33 0.03 14.5 13.6 51.6 79.8

Agave sislana 5000 25 2 0.08 4.1 4.5 3.2 11.9

Urtica Dioica

2500 25 1 0.04 2.0 4.5 0.01 6.6

Chrysopogon fulvus

15000 50 3 0.06 12.5 9 4.7 26.3

Micromeria biflora

2500 25 1 0.04 2.0 9 0.2 11.4

Berberis lyceum

2500 25 1 0.04 2.0 4.5 0.2 6.8

Oxalis corniculata

5000 50 1 0.02 4.1 9 0.2 13.4

Leucas lanata 5000 25 2 0.08 4.1 4.5 0.9 9.6

Rumex hastatus

7500 50 1.5 0.03 6.25 9 19.7 35

Gallium aparine

2500 25 1 0.04 2.0 4.5 0 6.6

Thalictrum foliolosum

2500 25 1 0.04 2.0 4.5 12.6 19.2

Total 100 100 100 30012

.

0.96000000000

0001

2.3

2.1

Diversity (H')

TreeShrubsHerbs

Diversity index Species diversity is important attribute of natural community. The concept of diversity is related with species richness. Diversity also incorporates the distributions of individuals among the species.In the present study, species diversity index or Shannon-wiener index (H') of shrub layer was maximum (2.3) and minimum for tree layer (0.96)

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Trees Shrubs Herbs0

0.05

0.1

0.15

0.2

0.25

0.3

0.35

0.4

0.450.42

0.000700000000000001 0.001

concentration of dominance (cd)

concentration of dominance (cd)

Concentration of dominance In the present study Concentration of dominance was maximum for tree layer (0.42) and minimum for shrub layer (0.0007)

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1.82

4.92

4.67

spices Richness

TreesShurbsHerbs

Richness index Richness index is defined as the number of species per specified number of individuals. Maximum richness was recorded for shrub layer (4.92) and minimum was found in the tree layer (1.82).

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Tree Shrubs Herbs

0.76

0.78

0.8

0.82

0.84

0.86

0.88

0.9

0.870000000000001

0.89

0.81

Evenness index

Evenness index

Evenness index In the present study evenness index was maximum for shrub layer (0.89) and minimum for herb layer (0.81) .

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ANNEXURE

Measuring herb diameter by digital caliper at restored site

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Measuring tree diameter by caliper at restored site

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• Digital caliper use for measuring herbs and shrubs diameter

• caliper use for measuring tree diameter

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Mussoorie hills

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THANKS…