Forest floor diversity, distribution and biomass pattern of oak and chir-pine forest in the Indian Western Himalaya

The present study envisage the dynamics of forest floor vegetation and biomass pattern in selected oak and chir-pine forest, western Himalaya an altitudinal ranged between 1450-1950 m. The herb species richness was slightly higher (26) in the oak forest as compared to the chir-pine (25) forest. Poaceae was the dominant family in both forests represent 5 species in each site. The herb layer density was higher (234.50 m^-2) in the oak forest as compared to the chir-pine forest (119.85 m^-2). Species diversity was recorded 3.29 in oak and 4.09in the chir-pine forest and concentration of dominance was 0.16 in oak and 0.076 in the chir-pine forest stands. Most of the species in both the study sites were showing contagious distribution patterns. The forest floor biomass was515.52 gm^-2 in the oak and 428.11 gm^-2 in the chir pine stand during the study period (2017-2019). The rainy session account for maximum biomass in both the sites.