ECOLOGICAL STUDIES OF LEGUMINOUS TREE SPECIES IN DRY DIPTEROCARP FOREST III. Spatial distribution pattern of tree species and their associations in the same habitat

Abstract

Studies on the spatial distribution of leguminous tree species in 4 sub-types of dry dipterocarp forest of four different dominant tree component species at a particular site in Sakaerat, northeastern Thailand found that all tree species (DBH ≥ 4.5 cm) were randomly distributed in the 4 stands. The spatial arrangement of the dominant species and the leguminous tree species in each stand were found to be clumping with clump size varied accordingly to mean crowding and mean density of each species. Most of leguminous tree species were partially overlaped or independently associated with the dominant species in each stand. Albizia odoratissima was found to distribute positively overlap with Shorea obtusa while Xylia xylocarpa was with Shorea siamensis, Shorea floribunda and Quercus kerrii but Pterocarpus macrocarpus was found with all dominant species in this area. However, Sindora maritima and Bauhinia pottsii which were relatively rare in this area, were independently grown with dominant species in only some stands.