Mudumalai Forest Dynamics Plot, India

In 1988, a Forest Dynamics Plot was set up in Mudumalai Game Reserve in the eastern foothills of the Western Ghat Mountains of Southern India by the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore and STRI. The Mudumalai forest is seasonal semi-evergreen lowland forest, typical of the lowland dry teak forest of the Indian subcontinent. Mudumalai is much less diverse than the other Forest Dynamics Plots surveyed to date, with 76 species and about 26,000 stems. The forest is an open-canopy woodland with grass cover that is subject to nearly annual fires and to browsing by large herds of elephants. A major focus, with significance for forest management practices through much of India, is the impact of fire and elephants on forest regeneration. The plot is recensused every year, although diameter measurements are not taken during every census. Remeasurement censuses have occurred in 1992 and 1997.

1988年，印度班加罗尔印度科学研究院（Indian Institute of Science）与史密森尼热带研究所（Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute，简称STRI）在印度南部西高止山脉东部山麓的穆杜马莱野生动物保护区建立了一处森林动态样地（Forest Dynamics Plot）。穆杜马莱林区为季节性半常绿低地林，是印度次大陆典型的低地干性柚木林。截至目前，该样地的物种多样性远低于其他已调查的森林动态样地，共记录76个物种，约26000株立木。该林分属于开放冠层林地，伴生草本覆盖层，几乎每年都会遭受火灾，并受到大型象群的啃食干扰。该样地的核心研究重点兼具广泛的印度林区经营管理参考价值，聚焦于火灾与大象活动对森林更新的影响。该样地每年开展重测普查，但并非每次普查都会测量树木胸径；目前已完成的重测普查分别为1992年与1997年。