DIVERSITY, CARBON STOCK AND SUCCESSIONAL PATTERN OF ... CARBON STOCK AND SUCCESSIONAL... ·...

DIVERSITY, CARBON STOCK AND SUCCESSIONAL PATTERN OF

UNDERSTORY HERBACEOUS PLANTS IN FALLOW SHIFTING CULTIVATION

AT SABAL AGROFORESTRY CENTRE, SARAWAK

NOORHANA BINTI MOHD SAPAWI

A thesis submitted

In fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master Science

(Botany)

Faculty of Resource Science and Technology

UNIVERSITI MALAYSIA SARAWAK

2013

DIVERSITY, CARBON STOCK AND SUCCESSIONAL PATTERN OF

UNDERSTORY HERBACEOUS PLANTS IN FALLOW SHIFTING

CULTIVATION AT SABAL AGROFORESTRY CENTRE, SARAWAK

Noorhana binti Mohd Sapawi

2013

(Botany)

Faculty of Resource Science and Technology

i

DECLARATION

I hereby declare that this thesis is based on my original work except for quotations and

citations which have been duly acknowledged. I also declare that this thesis has not

been previously or concurrently submitted for any other degree of qualification to any

other university or institution of higher learning.

……………………………………………..

(Noorhana binti Mohd Sapawi)

(Postgraduate Student No.: 09021449)

ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my appreciation to my supervisor, Professor Dr. Isa Ipor

for his guidance and support throughout this study. To my co-supervisors, Professor Dr.

Cheksum Tawan, Associate Professor Dr. Petrus Bulan and En. Qammil Muzzammil

Abdullah, thank you for the advices and encouraging comments.

I would like to extend my thanks to the FSTS’s laboratory assistant especially

En. Hidir Marzuki and En. Sekudan Tedong for teaching and helping me with the plant

identification. Also, many thanks to En. Salim Arip and En. Muhamad Najib Fardos for

their assistance while conducting the field sampling and laboratory work.

My deepest gratitude also goes to the Sarawak Forestry Corporation at Sabal

Agroforestry Centre, most of all to En. Jimmy Ng Ting Seng for helping us during the

sampling period at Sabal.

I would also like to extend my gratitude to all my fellow friends especially Siti

Izyan Liyana Kamarol, Karyati Hanapi, Jessica Mary Emily Jem, Norazima Ali

Hossien, Norma Mamat, Haniza Razali, Frankie Lanying and Aizat Jaapar for sharing

their knowledge, moral support and friendship. Also, my special thanks to Muhammad

Noor Hisyam Abang Hashim for his faith and a never ending support.

Finally, my special and sincere thanks to my beloved parents, Mohd Sapawi

Jamain and Fauziah Bolhassan, and also to my sisters and brother for their love, support

and encouragement throughout this study.

iii

Diversity, Carbon Stock and Successional Pattern of Understory Herbaceous Plants in

Fallow Shifting Cultivation at Sabal Agroforestry Centre, Sarawak

ABSTRACT

Biodiversity has been known with its role in maintaining ecosystem functioning

thus have resulted in concern among land management professionals, the scientific

community and the public for the conservation of biodiversity. Large scale of forest

destruction may lead to the loss in biodiversity thus linked to the degradation of many

ecosystem services. Therefore, extensive research is needed to preserve the species

diversity within our forested ecosystems. This study was carried out at the Sabal

Agroforestry Centre, Sarawak to determine the floristic composition, above-ground

carbon stocks and early successional pattern of understory herbaceous vegetation

comparatively at five study sites, from different-aged fallow of shifting cultivation

represented by 1, 3, 5, 10 and 21 years fallow. A total of 50 quadrates (1m x 1m) were

randomly placed at each study site for floristic analysis while 20 quadrates were used

for carbon stocks and succession analysis. A total of 15,348 individuals were recorded,

comprising of 178 species in 145 genera of 70 families. The highest number of species

was at 1 year fallow (78 spp.) followed by 10 years fallow (68 spp.), 20 years fallow (49

spp.), 5 years fallow (45 spp.) and 3 years fallow (40 spp.). Based on Shannon-Wiener

diversity index (H’), both 1 year fallow and 10 years fallow showed the highest value

index (H’=3.24). It was observed that the 1 year fallow was diversely dominated by

herbaceous species (75.7%) while the 10 years fallow was diversely dominated by

woody species (67.6%). Therefore, the Sorensen index (SI) showed the lowest

similarity index between the 1 year fallow and 10 years fallow while the 3 years fallow

iv

and 5 years fallow had the highest similarity index. According to these similarity in

species composition, three groups of cluster were formed which indicates the 1 year

fallow in a single cluster, 3 years fallow and 5 years fallow in second cluster, while 10

years fallow and 20 years fallow in third cluster. The estimated above-ground carbon

stocks were highest at 1 year fallow (2.08 MgCha-1) followed by 20 years fallow (1.30

MgCha-1), 3 years fallow (1.10 MgCha-

1), 5 years fallow (0.73 MgCha-

1) and 10 years

fallow (0.43 MgCha-1). During seven months of succession period, each study sites

showed different pattern of species composition. The number of individual and species

increased significantly (P>0.05) throughout the observation period except for the 3

years fallow which showed no significant difference in the number of individual. This

research had showed that the study on understory herbaceous vegetation is essential for

a better understanding in species diversity since the species composition of understory

herbaceous vegetation are very responsive to the disturbance and may changed

considerably over time, thus reflected to the site conditions. Understory herbaceous

vegetation also play an important role to store carbon through their biomass.

Keywords: fallow forest, herbaceous, floristic composition, carbon stocks, succession

v

Diversiti, Stock Karbon dan Corak Sesaran bagi Tumbuhan Herba Lantai Hutan di

Kawasan Tanah Terbiar Selepas Penanaman Pindah di Sekitar

Pusat Hutan Tani Sabal, Sarawak

ABSTRAK

Biodiversiti dikenali dengan peranannya dalam memelihara fungsi ekosistem

dan seterusnya menjadi perhatian dikalangan professional pengurusan tanah, golongan

saintifik serta orang awam untuk usaha pemuliharaan biodiversiti. Kemusnahan hutan

berskala besar boleh mengakibatkan kehilangan dalam biodiversiti dan seterusnya

menyumbang pada degradasi servis dalam ekosistem. Oleh itu, kajian yang meluas

diperlukan untuk memelihara spesies diversiti dalam ekosistem hutan kita. Satu kajian

telah dijalankan di sekitar Pusat Hutan Tani Sabal, Sarawak untuk menentukan

komposisi flora, menganggar stok karbon atas tanah serta corak awal sesaran bagi

tumbuhan herba lantai hutan di lima lokasi kajian tanah terbiar selepas penanaman

pindah yang berbeza umur iaitu tanah terbiar 1, 3, 5, 10 dan 20 tahun. Sejumlah 50

kuadrat diletakkan secara rawak di setiap lokasi kajian untuk analisis flora manakala

20 kuadrat digunakan untuk analisis karbon dan sesaran awal. Sebanyak 15,348

individu daripada 178 spesies, 145 genera dan 70 keluarga telah direkodkan. Tanah

terbiar 1 tahun mecatatkan bilangan spesies yang tertinggi (78 spp.) diikuti tanah

terbiar 10 tahun (68 spp.), tanah terbiar 20 tahun (49 spp.), tanah terbiar 5 tahun (45

spp.) dan tanah terbiar 3 tahun (40 spp.). Berdasarkan Shannon-Wiener diversiti indeks

(H’), kedua-dua tanah terbiar 1 tahun dan 10 tahun mencatatkan nilai indeks (H’) yang

tertinggi (H’=3.24). Melalui pemerhatian, tanah terbiar 1 tahun didominasi oleh

spesies herba (75.7%) manakala tanah terbiar 10 tahun didominasi oleh spesies anak

vi

pokok (67.6%). Oleh itu, Indeks Sorensen (SI) menunjukkannilai indeks kesamaan yang

paling rendah (SI= 0.15) adalah di antara tanah terbiar 1 tahun dengan tanah terbiar

10 tahun, manakala tanah terbiar 3 tahun dan tanah terbiar 5 tahun menunjukkan nilai

indeks kesamaan yang tertinggi (SI= 0.45). Berdasarkan pada kesamaan dalam

komposisi spesies, tiga kluster telah terbentuk menunjukkan tanah terbiar 1 tahun

berada dalam satu kluster, tanah terbiar 3 tahun dan 5 tahun dalam kluster kedua

manakala tanah terbiar 10 tahun dan 20 tahun dalam kluster ketiga. Anggaran stok

karbon atas tanah bagi tumbuhan herba lantai hutan adalah paling tinggi di tanah

terbiar 1 tahun (2.08 Mg C ha-1) diikuti tanah terbiar 20 tahun (1.30 Mg C ha-

1), tanah

terbiar 3 tahun, (1.10 Mg C ha-1), tanah terbiar 5 tahun (0.73 Mg C ha-

1) dan tanah

terbiar 10 tahun (0.43 Mg C ha-1). Sepanjang tempoh tujuh bulan kajian sesaran

dijalankan, setiap lokasi kajian menunjukkan corak komposisi spesies yang berbeza.

Nombor individu dan spesies telah meningkat dengan ketara (P>0.05) sepanjang

tempoh pemerhatian kecuali untuk tanah terbiar 3 tahun yang tidak menunjukkan

peningkatan yang ketara untuk nombor individu. Kajian ini telah menunjukkan bahawa

kajian terhadap tumbuhan herba lantai hutan adalah penting untuk kita lebih

memahami tentang spesies diversiti memandangkan komposisi spesies tumbuhan herba

lantai hutan sangat bertindak-balas pada sebarang gangguan dan akan berubah

dengan masa, sekaligus dapat menggambarkan keadaan sesuatu kawasan tersebut.

Tumbuhan herba lantai hutan juga memainkan peranan yang penting dalam

penyimpanan karbon melalui biomasnya.

Kata kunci: hutan terbiar, tumbuhan herba, komposisi flora, stok karbon, sesaran

vii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

Declaration i

Acknowledgements ii

Abstract iii

Abstrak v

Table of contents vii

List of Tables x

List of Figures xii

List of Abbreviations xiv

Chapter 1 GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction 1

1.2 Problem statement 3

1.3 Objectives 5

Chapter 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Biodiversity 6

2.1.1 Species diversity, richness and evenness 7

2.2 Tropical rainforest 9

2.3 Shifting cultivation 11

2.3.1 Fallow period of shifting cultivation 14

2.4 Plant succession following disturbances 15

2.4.1 Understory herbaceous vegetation 17

2.4.2 Tree vegetation 18

2.5 Primary and secondary forest 20

2.5.1 Structural composition of secondary forest 21

2.5.2 Values of secondary forest 23

2.6 Forest biomass 24

2.6.1 Biomass and carbon storage estimation 25

2.7 Forest carbon 26

2.7.1 Deforestation and global climate change 27

2.7.2 Carbon sequestration and storage 28

2.8 Background of the Sabal Agroforestry Centre 31

viii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

Chapter 3 MATERIALS AND METHODS

3.1 Study area 33

3.2 Data collection and analysis 35

3.2.1 Floristic composition and diversity 35

3.2.1.1 Diversity indices 36

3.2.1.2 Summed Dominance Ratio (SDR) 38

3.2.1.3 Similarity index 39

3.2.2 Above-ground carbon stocks 39

3.2.3 Early successional pattern 41

Chapter 4 RESULTS

4.1 Floristic composition and diversity of understory

herbaceous vegetation

42

4.1.1 Floristic composition 42

4.1.2 Species diversity, richness and evenness indices 61

4.1.3 Species dominancy 62

4.1.4 Similarity index and cluster analysis 82

4.2 Above-ground biomass and carbon stocks of

understory herbaceous vegetation

84

4.2.1 Allotment of the above-ground carbon stocks based

on plant growth habits

85

4.2.2 Above-ground carbon stocks estimated for each

species

87

4.3 Early successional pattern of understory herbaceous

vegetation

93

4.3.1 Number of plants for the first seven months after

the clear-cutting under different surrounding forest

conditions

93

4.3.2 Number of species for the first seven months after the

clear-cutting under different surrounding forest

conditions

101

Chapter 5 DISCUSSION



109



119


vegetation

123

ix

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

Chapter 6 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION



127



128


vegetation

129

References 131

Appendix A 154

Appendix B 162

Appendix C 165

x

LIST OF TABLES

Table Title Page

Table 3.1 Location of the study sites at Sabal. 34

Table 4.1 Floristic composition recorded within each study site at Sabal. 43

Table 4.2 Number of species recorded within each study site at Sabal. 45

Table 4.3 Distribution of families recorded within each study site at Sabal.

Total of genera, species and individual enumerated from the five

study sites at Sabal.

58

Table 4.4 Diversity indices for each study site at Sabal. 61

Table 4.5 Relative density (Rd), Relative frequency (Rf), Importance Value

Index (IVI) and Summed Dominance Ratio (SDR) for all species

enumerated from the five study sites at Sabal.

63



recorded in the one year fallow at Sabal.

69



recorded in the Temuda I at Sabal.

73



recorded in the Temuda II at Sabal.

75



recorded in the Belukar I at Sabal.

77



recorded in the Belukar II at Sabal.

80

Table 4.11 Similarity index among the five study sites at Sabal. 82

Table 4.12 Total number of individual and total estimated above-ground

carbon stocks for each species recorded within the five study

sites at Sabal.

88

xi

LIST OF TABLES

Table Title Page

Table 4.13 Number of plants in 1 m2 during the first seven months of

succession after the clear-cutting.

95

Table 4.14 Number of species in 1m2 during the first seven months

of succession after the clear-cutting.

103

xii

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Title Page

Figure 2.1 Location of three main regions of tropical rainforest, in Central

and South America, in West and Central Africa, and in South

East Asia.

10

Figure 2.2 Forest cover in Sarawak. 12

Figure 3.1 Map of the study area at Sabal. 34

Figure 4.1 Proportion of herbaceous and woody species within each study

site at Sabal.

55

Figure 4.2 Number of species based on the plant growth habit within each

study site at Sabal.

55

Figure 4.3 Number of species based on the phenological life span within

each study site at Sabal.

56

Figure 4.4 A dendrogram showing similarity relationships among the five

study sites. Hierarchical cluster analysis by Average linkage

(between groups) based on Euclidean distance method.

83

Figure 4.5 Above-ground carbon stocks of understory herbaceous

vegetation estimated for each study site at Sabal.

85

Figure 4.6 Estimation of above-ground carbon stocks for each study site

allotted based on the plant growth habit.

86

Figure 4.7 Number of plants in 1 m2 before the clear-cutting and after the

seven months of the clear-cutting. Mean with the same letter

are not significantly at α = 0.05 according to Tukey’s test.

97

Figure 4.8a Differences in growth habit before and after seven months of

clear-cutting done in Temuda I, in reference to the individual

number.

99

Figure 4.8b Differences in growth habit before and after seven months of

clear-cutting done in Temuda II, in reference to the individual

number.

99

Figure 4.8c Differences in growth habit before and after seven months of

clear-cutting done in Belukar II, in reference to the individual

number.

100

xiii

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Title Page

Figure 4.9 Number of species in 1 m2 before the clear-cutting and after the

seven months of the clear-cutting. Mean with the same letter

are not significantly at α = 0.05 according to Tukey’s test.

105

Figure 4.10a Differences in growth habit before and after seven months of

clear-cutting done in Temuda I, in reference to the species

number.

107

Figure 4.10b Differences in growth habit before and after seven months of

clear-cutting done in Temuda II, in reference to the species

number.

107

Figure 4.10c Differences in growth habit before and after seven months of

clear-cutting done in Belukar II, in reference to the species

number.

108

xiv

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

% = Percent

α = Alpha

° C = Degree Celsius

ANOVA = Analysis Of Variance

BC = Before Christ

C = Carbon

ca. = Circa (approximately)

cm = Centimeter

CO2 = Carbon dioxide

dbh = Diameter breast height

gm-2

= Gram per meter square

H = Hydrogen

H’ = Shannon-Weiner diversity index

ha = Hectare

H2O = Water

IPCC = Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

J = Pielou’s evenness index

kg C ha-1

= Kilogram of Carbon per hectare

kg ha-1

= Kilogram per hectare

kg m-2

= Kilogram per meter square

km = Kilometer

km2 = kilometer square

xv

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

m = Meter

m2

= Meter square

mm = Milimeter

Mg C ha-1

= Megagram of Carbon per hectare

N = Nitrogen

O2 = Oxygen

Pg C = Petagram of Carbon

pH = Potential of Hydrogen

PVC = Polyvinyl chloride

R = Margalef’s richness index

SDR = Summed Dominance Ratio

SI = Sorensen’s similarity index

SPSS = Statistical Package for the Social Sciences

sq = Square

UNFCCC = United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

USDA = United States Department of Agriculture

1

CHAPTER 1

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction

Biodiversity derived from the contraction of the phrase “biological diversity”

covering many aspects of biological variation which comprises all life forms, ecosystems

and ecological processes. Biodiversity is a critical component of world ecosystem that

essential for human survival and economic well being as it regulates ecosystem function

and stability (Singh, 2002; Behera and Misra, 2006). Borneo has been acknowledged as one

of the world’s hotspots for plant biodiversity. As stated by Sarawak Forest Department

(2011), the flora of Borneo is conservatively estimated to harbour between 12, 000-15, 000

species of vascular plants, which are equals to 5-6% of the world total. Sarawak alone had

comprises more than 8, 000 species of vascular plants. According to Agriculture Statistics

in 1995 (State Planning Unit, 2000), there is about 94% of Sarawak total land use are

covered with forest which indicate that 63.7% of the forests are undisturbed while 30.4%

are secondary forest.

Shifting cultivation is frequently identified as one of the main causes of tropical

forest disturbance (Lawrence et al., 1998) and retrogression to secondary forest vegetation.

In Sarawak, shifting cultivation is a predominant method of agriculture and has been widely

practiced by groups of native peoples in order to produce various types of crops for their

income. Gupta and O’Toole (1986) stated that shifting cultivation occurs because of its

poor cropping management which consequently allows detrimental weed infestation and

2

declining soil fertility within two to three years after a field is cleared and planted with rice.

Farmers are then move to a new land because of the declining yield and left the previous

land to fallow which will be taken over by vigorous secondary herbaceous plant including

grasses and sedges. If such fallow land is left up to 10 years, it reverts to the secondary

forest type (Abebrese, 2002).

Succession is a natural recovery process of vegetation and ecosystems that occur

after forest disturbance (Mohizah, 2003). The common forest succession established after 1

year shifting cultivation is grassland which is mainly dominated by herbaceous plants.

Herbaceous plants are characteristically non-woody plants whose stem is soft and green,

rooted on the forest floor and typically low height. Typically, herbaceous communities at

recently disturbed site show high species richness which may persist during the first year of

succession due to high rates of species turnover (Valázquez and Goméz-Sal, 2009).

However, according to Ainie et al. (2007), as forest succession occurs continuously, the

diversity of these sun-loving plant species will decline rapidly as the impact of closed

canopy and competition among dominant species for soil resources.

The natural process of removing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air and storing that

carbon in vegetation or in the soil is called carbon sequestration. Carbon sequestration is

thought to be a promising means for reducing atmospheric CO2, which is an important

greenhouse gaseous. Frelich et al. (2003) noted that the understory herbaceous plants play

an important role in a wide range of ecosystem functions primarily in energy flow and

nutrient cycling. It takes a significant part in carbon cycle by sequestered good amount of

CO2 particularly on the newly planted area where trees are only present at low densities.

As the photosynthesis process occur, the herbaceous plants sequester CO2 from atmosphere

3

through the carbon stored in their biomass which can be generate in a large amount for a

few years mainly in a newly opened site (Valázquez and Goméz-Sal, 2009).

This study was intended to enable the comparative study at different ages of fallows

on herbaceous diversity and their significant role in carbon stocks together with the early

successional pattern of understory herbaceous vegetation particularly in fallows of shifting

cultivation. This study was undertaken at the area of Sabal Agroforestry Centre, in the

Samarahan Division of Sarawak where shifting cultivation has been actively practiced by

local people in Sabal for many years.

1.2 Problem Statement

In Sabal, the local people are mostly populated by Iban villagers who carried out

shifting cultivation within the forest reserve even after their forceful eviction in 1984 (Nor

Rasidah, 2010), thus led to the retrogression of secondary forest. The Sabal Forest Reserve

comprises different-aged of regenerative secondary forest ranged from 1 year after

agricultural abandonment up to more than 20 years of secondary forest. It is expected that

different-aged of secondary forest may vary in their species composition. The herbaceous

layer are said to be the most sensitive in its response to harvest-mediated disturbance and

also has the highest species diversity (Gilliam, 2002). However, lack of documentation

about the herbaceous vegetation was done for this area especially on their floristic

composition and successional pattern. In view of the fact that shifting cultivation is a

widespread form of agricultural system practiced by the local people and resulted many of

4

fallow lands, it is important to understand the response and variation of herbaceous species

composition in different fallow ages.

Most forestry research related carbon studies have heavily focused either on trees or

forest soil while understory vegetation is not usually included in this analysis. Compared to

other components of forest ecosystems, the biomass of understory vegetation always

claimed to be small hence sometimes their presence was dismissed as negligible. However,

the understory herbaceous vegetation may actually play a significant role in many

ecosystem processes included the carbon cycle by sequestering CO2 (Gorte, 2007) from

atmosphere and rapid turnover at the biomass level (Muukkonen et al., 2006). Due to the

lack number of large trees that presence in the early age of fallow lands, the diverse and

fast-growing of understory herbaceous vegetation are seen to take a significant role for

carbon storage. Nevertheless, very little information can be gathered from past studies since

less attention was paid on the importance of understory herbaceous vegetation to store

carbon.

5

1.3 Objectives

The objectives of this research were as follows:

1. to determine the floristic composition and diversity of the understory herbaceous

vegetation comparatively in different-aged fallow of shifting cultivation (1, 3, 5,

10 and 20 years of fallow)

2. to estimate the amount of above-ground carbon stocks stored by understory

herbaceous vegetation in different-aged fallow of shifting cultivation

3. to determine the early successional pattern and initial floristic composition of

understory herbaceous vegetation in different-aged fallow of shifting cultivation

6

CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Biodiversity

The biodiversity has been one of the central topics of ecology since many years. The

term of “biodiversity” formed as a contraction for “biological diversity” introduced during

the organization of a (United States) National Forum on Biodiversity in 1986 (Sarkar,

2006; Sarkar, 2010). In its broadest definition, biodiversity defined as the diversity of life in

all its forms and levels of organization including the ecological structures, functions and

processes at all of these levels (Roberts and Gilliam, 1995). Borneo, the largest island in the

Sundanic biogeographical subregion is reported as a centre for many genera and species of

the Malaysian flora, and also the home of the South East Asian Dipterocarps (Sidiyasa,

1999). The diversity of indices has become an attracting attention because of the surge

interest in biodiversity and the never ending quest for indicators of the status of the

environment (Heip et al., 1998).

Singh (2002) had noted the importance of biodiversity for human survival through

enormous direct economic benefits, indirect essential services of natural ecosystems and its

prominent role in modulating ecosystem function and stability. Rich in biodiversity favors

ecological stability whereas acceleration of species loss could lead to the unstable

ecosystem (Pokhriyal et al., 2009). The biodiversity and ecosystem function relationship in

term of productivity, nutrient cycling and storage, carbon sequestration, and stability to

perturbations have been studied broadly by researchers for many years and still are the

7

subject of debate (Ricotta, 2005). Therefore, conservation of biodiversity is aware not to be

as a set aside issue but rather one that requires significant actions throughout the forest

estate (Zhu et al., 2007).

In recent years, the loss in biodiversity has attracted the world attention. The loss

are believed as the impacts of forest management practices especially harvesting old growth

and short logging rotation which caused the diversity reduction in forest ecosystems (Hood,

2001). The loss in biodiversity is generally linked to the degradation of many ecosystem

services such as food and wood production, and self purification and nutrient cycling.

Therefore, due to the accelerating loss of species, national and global forestry organization

have recognized the need for biodiversity management (Roberts and Gilliam, 1995).

Attempting on these needs, the Society of American Foresters stated in 1991 had

recommended that “Professional foresters should manage forestlands to conserve, maintain,

or enhance the biological diversity of the region in which they work and, collectively, of

the nation and the earth” (Robbets and Gilliam 1995; Hood, 2001).

2.1.1 Species diversity, richness and evenness

Species diversity is a measure to the number of species in a community where each

species is weighted by its abundance (Alatalo, 1981). This function of measurement is

made up by combination of two principal components, richness and evenness (Bhatt and

Sanjit, 2005; Ejtehadi et al., 2007) which both are important aspects of biological

communities (Peters, 2004). Species diversity was the top list subject of biodiversity study

because it was the easiest to measure in the field (Ejtehadi et al., 2007).

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