FLORISTIC ATTRIBUTES OF SMALL CARDAMOM (ELETTARIA-CARDAMOMUM (L) MATON) GROWING AREAS IN THE WESTERN GHATS OF PENINSULAR INDIA

A field study was conducted in the Western chats of peninsular India t o test the following two hypotheses: (1) lower floristic diversity for the cardamom hill reserves (CHR - a traditional agroforestry system o f the tropics) compared to undisturbed evergreen forests and (2) a tru ncated vegetation structure for shade trees in the cardamom areas. The experimental sites involved three CHRs and an evergreen forest site. The CHRs, regardless of their locations, were characterized by lower f loristic diversity and density than the evergreen forest site. The und isturbed forest site at Ayyappancoil registered the highest floristic richness and diversity (Simpson's floristic diversity index, D = 0.93) , followed by the well-managed CHR site, suggesting that managerial in terventions may have a strong bearing on the floristic diversity of CH Rs. The current suite of species in the CHRs included both heliophilic as well as shade-tolerant components. However, dominant tree species, their density and relative abundance exhibited marked variations amon g the CHR sites, albeit about one-third of the species were common at all sites. Stand physiognomy was characterized by the dominance of a s ingle layer of trees in the CHRs, while the wet evergreen forest exhib ited a multilayered canopy structure. Some of the lower height classes were poorly represented in the cardamom areas, whereas the evergreen forests depicted an inverse 'J' shaped height distribution pattern. Im plicit in the truncated stand structure of the CHR is the poor regener ation status, due to systematic removal of the lower size classes.