DIVERSITY OF TERRESTRIAL FERN SPECIES IN A SUBMONTANE SECONDARY FOREST AT UPPER HANTANA

Abstract

Although there are many fern species at the secondary forest of Upper Hantana area, theirdistribution and the diversity has not been studied adequately. In the Upper Hantana areamany of the habitats are under threat due to human activities and therefore, most of thesefern species are at a risk. Therefore, it is very importarit to conserve these fern species andfor this purpose, it is necessary to identify all the ferns in the area and their distribution.The objectives of this study were to find out the fern diversity in the Upper Hantana areaand to find out microhabitat requirements of these fern species.

Forty-five, 2x4cm2 quadrates were established at different sites i.e, at the roadside,streamside and in the forest interior of the study site. All the fern species in these quadrateswere identified and recorded.

Results revealed that the species, genera and family diversities were high at Upper Hantanaarea. A total of 29 species belonging to 17 genera and 13 families were recorded from thearea. Out of 29 species 53% were recorded from roadside while 34% and 17% wererecorded from streamside and forest interior respectively. With respect to the 13 familiesrecorded 48% were found at roadside, 35% from the streamside and 17% from the forestinterior.

As there were more fern species at roadside, these may easily be disturbed with increasedhuman activities.