Inter-specific association of herbaceous vegetation in semi arid Thar desert, India Mathur Manish*,**, Sundaramoorthy S. Plant Ecology Laboratory, Jai Narain Vyas University, Jodhpur, India *Present Address: Central Arid Zone Research Institute, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India
**Corresponding author email: ravi_mm2099@yahoomail.com; eco5320@gmail.com
Online published on 14 August, 2013. Abstract Temporal variations in inter-specific association of the herbaceous guild at 12 semi-arid sites in the Thar desert, India were studied using values of variance ratio and chi square test. According to the seasonal species richness, it was possible to compare 406, 300 and 153 species pairs for the pulse, inter-pulse and non-pulse events, respectively. Based on the variance ratio overall negative associations were recorded during respective events. The positive to negative ratios for the respective seasonal interactions were 0.65, 0.5 and 0.44. Interactions between Blepharis sindica -Lasiurus sindicus and between Lepidagathis cristata - Sonchus asper were positive for all the three events. Based on the Jaccard values, 13 absolute, 30 complete and 17 negative significant association types were identified. This study reveals that in limited and fluctuating environment mixing of perennial -annual herb system is more adaptable for the temporal fluctuations. Sixteen different regression equation were developed and based on the path analysis richness, Shannon and Weaver index, electric conductivity and soil Phosphorus were recognized as indicator factors controlling the types of associations. Top Keywords Ecosystem services and functioning, Forage, Grassland Management, Jaccard index, Landscape management, PCA, Path analysis, Species association. Top |