Woody Plant Diversity in Sacred Forests and Fallows in Chiang Mai, Thailand

All woody plant and seedling diversity was compared in a Karen and a Lawa hill-tribe
village in northern Thailand in four different habitats: sacred forests and fallow fields of three
ages derived from rotational shifting cultivation (young fallows, 1–2 years old; medium-age fallow,
3-4 years old; old fallow, 5-6 years old). All woody plant species were identified and counted
in three transects (20 x 40 m). Seedlings were inventoried in 12 circular (5 m diam.) plots. The
highest species richness of all woody species and seedlings were found in the sacred forests
in both villages. The highest values of the Shannon-Wiener index for both trees and seedlings
were in the sacred forest of the Karen village. There were significant differences in species
richness between the four studied habitats surrounding both villages (p<0.05). All woody plant
and seedlings species compositions in the sacred forests of both villages were distinct from all
the fallow plots as revealed by cluster analysis. Pearson’s correlation test showed that only the
Simpson diversity index was significantly and positively related to distances from the fallows
to the sacred forest. The percentages of plants originating from sprouts were highest in the
young fallow and decreased when the fallows aged in both villages, and vice versa for plants
originated from seedlings. Furthermore, the sacred forest of both villages harbored endemic
and threatened species in Thailand.