FLORISTIC RICHNESS AND RECREATION POTENTIAL OF • POMPEKELLE FOREST RESERVE

H Amarasekera, D M S H K Ranasinghe, Finlayson
1996 Proceedings of the Second Annual Forestry Symposium 1996: Management and Sustainable Utilization of Forest Resources   unpublished
I'ompekcllc Forest Reserve is a small urban forest in the heart of Ratnapura town ill the lowland,' ..of southwestern Sr! Lanka. In a phvtoecological survey, woodv plants ofmore than 5 em dbh were enumerated in samples ofthe hilltop. mid-slope and valley. Species richness, diversity, evenness, dominance and importance-value indices were calculated A total or 116 species were found, belonging to 3H families. Species diversity and evenness were higher on the hilltop than in the valley. Species
more » ... inance was higher in the valley than on the hilltop 0/1(1 mid-slope. Trees or the Apocynaceae, Celastraccac, Dilleniaceae, Leguminosae, and Moraceae were prominent throughout. ,...•. eparate communities were identified for the hilltop, mid-slope and valley. Endemicity was higher (In the hilltop than on the mid-slope and in the valley. There was an abundance or regenerating canopy species, which indicates that the forest isfast recoveringfront past interference such as illicitfelling. A long-term recreational development plan was prepared on the basis ol the floristic data obtained in the present survey, a questionnaire survey with about 200 respondents, and a resource survey that used aerial photographs and "one-inch" /1101'S. It was supplemented with a working plan that included detailed site drawings.
fatcat:jymeg6t42bao5cqw5fdvnkorue