Diversity and species structure of home gardens in South Andaman.
Pandey C. B., Kanak Lata, Venkatesh A., Medhi R. P.
Author Affiliation: Central Agricultural Research Institute, Port Blair 744 101, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India.
Tropical Ecology 47 : 251-258
Abstract : A survey was conducted in 19 home gardens and 10 home-forest-gardens in South Andaman to elucidate species structure and diversity in their floristic composition. Number of ligneous species was 18 in home garden and 10 in home-forest-garden. Plantation crops i.e., coconut, arecanut; fruit plants - mango, banana, papaya and spices - clove, nutmeg and cinnamon were major species in the home garden. Density and relative frequency of arecanut was maximum in both home garden as well as in home-forest-garden. Home garden being similar in physiognomy to tropical evergreen forest, formed five tiered and home-forest-garden four tiered canopy structure. Coconut constituted top storey, arecanut and jackfruit fourth storey, mango, cashewnut and tamarind third storey, spices second storey and annuals like Zinziber officinalis, Curcuma longa and Manihot esculenta and pineapple first storey in the home garden. Home-forest-garden differed from the home garden as the former lacked spice trees and contained forest tree species only in the top storey. Similarity in species composition between home garden and home-forest-garden was 72%. Diversity of plant species was greater in home-forest-garden whereas equitability, concentration of dominance and species richness in home garden.