Fern diversity and biomass at Chilapatta reserve forest of West Bengal Terai Duars in sub-humid tropical foothills of Indian eastern Himalayas

Abstract

We documented the status of fern diversity, biomass and carbon accumulation at Chilapatta Reserve Forest in Cooch Behar Wildlife Division, West Bengal. Stratified random nested quadrat sampling was adopted for analyzing the qualitative and quantitative characters. Nineteen fern species were recorded, of which two are yet to be identified. Identified species were of eight families and nine genera. Highest and lowest frequency recorded were 25.44 and 0.19 while relative frequency varied from 3.16 to 12.25. Fern density ranged from 93 to 13,403 individuals ·ha⁻¹. Most of the species were widely distributed. IVI values ranged from 7.54 to 37.45. The above ground portion of ferns accumulated the major portion of biomass and carbon.

Keywords

Chilapatta forest / fern / diversity / biomass