PJB-2019-758
CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF FOREST FIRES IN KALA CHITTA FOREST
Najeeb Ullah Khan
Abstract
Fire is considered as one of the most powerful natural phenomenon and has great impacts on the people and environment. The natural forest of Kala Chitta experiences extensive fire approximately every year in Pakistan. The present study has been designed to study the causes and effects of forest fires in Kala Chitta forest District Attock. The objectives of this research study were to identify the composition and other parameters e.g basal area, height, frequency and IVI of growing stock within burnt and unburned areas. The area was divided into two categories; burnt and unburned. 5 Sample plots within burnt and 5 within unburned areas were taken randomly. Plot size was 33×33 m2 (0.1 ha). The result obtained during the study showed that fire in scrub forest of Kala Chitta has high effect on species composition, basal area, height, frequency and IVI of growing stock. The finding of results shows that in burnt area the dominant species were Olea cuspidata and Dedonia viscosa, and in some areas we have small number of Ficus bengalynsis. And in unburned areas five species were found in dominancy namely Olea cuspidate, Dedonia viscosa, Zizypus nummularia, Acaccia modesta and Prosipus joliforia. The results obtained in this study showed that the basal areas, height, frequency and IVI were highly effected by forest fires. The study showed that the basal area, height and frequency of species in unburned areas were good as compared to burned areas. In burned areas IVI of Olea cuspidate was 23.06, Dedonia viscosa 40.25, and Ficus bengalynsis 3.52 while in unburned area the IVI index for Olea cuspidate was 19.27, Dedonia visco 22.005, Accaica modesta 11.71, Zizyphus nummularia 9.54, and Prosiphus joliforia 4.192.
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