Tree Species Diversity of Forest Types in Camarines Norte State College - College of Agriculture and Natural Resources

Abstract

The study characterized and compared tree species diversity of three forest types – natural forest stand, man-made forest and agroforest – found in CNSC-CANR, Labo, Camarines Norte and determined the potential of each to develop into a diverse community. Specifically, it sought to: (1) characterize the tree species composition of the forest types; (2) determine the relative dominance of each species in the community; (3) compare the species diversity of three forest types; and, 4) determine the status of regenerates in these stands.

Three layers of each forest type were studied, specifically mature trees, saplings and seedlings, focusing on the tree species. A total of 34 species belonging to 16 families were identified in the secondary forest, 34 species belonging to 22 families in the man-made forest and 27 species belonging to 15 families in the agroforest. The most dominant family in the three forest types was Moraceae with 10 species in the secondary forest and seven each in the man-made forest and agroforest. Man-made forest had the most number of exotic species.

Among the mature trees, prickly narra (Pterocarpus indicus forma echinatus) (IV-36.64), yemane (Gmelia arborea) (IV=149.92) and mangga (mangifera indica) (IV=85.26) were the most dominant in the secondary forest, man-made forest, and agroforest, respectively. Meanwhile, hauili (Ficus septica) (IV = 34.19) was the most dominant saplings in the secondary forest, big leaf mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla) (IV=84.73) in the man-made forest, and takip asin (Macaranga grandiflora) and tibig (F. nota) (IV = 58.33 in the agroforest. For the seedlings, the most dominant in the secondary forest was prickly narra (IV=26.44) and malakape (Canthium diococcum) in the man-made forest (IV=43.61) and agroforest (IV=30.65).

Among the three forest types, secondary forest had the highest diversity of mature trees, saplings and seedlings with Diversity Index (H') of 2.2641, 2.6105 and 3.8079, respectively. With regards to evenness of distribution, mature trees and seedlings were evenly represented in the secondary forest with J=0.9111 and 1.0000, respectively. For saplings, agroforest had a good representation of species compared to the others with J=0.9899.