biodiversity assessment in some selected hill forests of south orissa

• Data were also collected from the secondary information sources like the traditional healers,
hunters, and older people by taking their interviews.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Forest resources of South Orissa: There is occurrence of 4 types of forest in all the four districts of
South Orissa classified by Champion and Seth (1968). The vegetation of Niyamgiri, Deomali, Mahendragiri,
Khandualmali and Baphlimali are moist mixed deciduous type with many semi evergreen patches where as it
is of dry deciduous types in Sijimali, Krishnamali, Potangi, Panchpatmali, Maliparvat Kodingamali and
Kutrumali. But in all the hills many micro climatic variations with riparian forests were observed during the
field survey.
Table – 1: Forest cover in four districts of South Orissa (area in sq km) Source: State of the Forest Report,
2005 (Forest Survey of India, Dehradun)
Sl Name of Geographical Forest cover (Area in square km)
no. District area Very dense Moderately Open Total Percentage
dense forest forest
1 Kalahandi 7920 370 743 1193 2306 28.72
2 Koraput 8807 104 718 856 1678 19.05
3 Rayagada 7073 456 901 1735 3126 44.20
4 Gajapati 4,325 90 1,523 872 2,485 57.46
FOREST TYPES OF SOUTH ORISSA
Ecologically, the forests of South Orissa are classified into the following types based on revised survey of
forest types in India by champion and Seth (1968).
1. 2BC3 – Northern tropical semi evergreen forests (Orissa semi evergreen forests)
2. 3C – Northern Indian Moist deciduous forest
3C/2c 2e – Moist peninsular Sal Forest, 3C/C2 e (i) – Moist peninsular high-level Sal, 3C/2C
2e (ii) – Moist peninsular low level Sal,
3c/2S1 – Northern Secondary moist mixed deciduous forest &
c/2S1 – Dry bamboo brakes
3. 5B – Northern Tropical dry deciduous forest
5B – c1 Dry Sal bearing forests
5B – 2c – Northern dry mixed deciduous forests
4. 5B BDS I – Dry deciduous scrub
5. 5B E9 – Dry Bamboo brake
6. Orissa semi evergreen forests (2BC3): This type of forest occurs over limited areas where
elevation is more than 1000 meter above MSL. This is confined to moist valley of