Soil characteristics and flora diversity in Cam mountain and Dai Nam Gieng mountain, An Giang province

Abstract

The impact of agricultural cultivation has reduced the diversity of plant resources, especially in Cam Mountain and Dai Nam Gieng Mountain, An Giang province. This article was to evaluate soil quality, the status of plant distribution, and diversity in this current area. The survey at Cam Mountain was 6 transects, 24 plots; Nam Gieng Mountain was 4 transects, 11 plots. At Cam Mountain, the sand content was lower, but the clay content was higher than at Nam Gieng Mountain. At the 0 - 20 cm soil layer, EC, CHC, total nitrogen, and total phosphorus in Cam Mountain were higher than in Nam Gieng Mountain. The study recorded 102 species belonging to 57 families of vascular plants. Cam Mountain has more diversity in families and species than Dai Nam Gieng Mountain. The species-diverse families were Fabaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Zingiberaceae, Asteraceae, and Araceae. The medicinal plants appeared to have the most species. In woody plants, the richness index (d) ranged from 0.28 to 2.23; Evenness index (J') from 0.43 to 0.96; Species diversity index (H') ranged from 0 to 1.85. Meanwhile, herbaceous plants gained (d) from 0.3 to 1.61, (J') from 0.16 to 0.96, and (H') from 0.2 to 1.85. At Cam Mountain, (d) and (J') of woody plants were higher than at Nam Gieng Mountain. Herbaceous plants had (J') and (H') indexes at Nam Gieng Mountain higher but the Simpson dominance index was lower than at Cam Mountain. Therefore, to maintain plant diversity in this area, it is necessary to strengthen the protection of forest flora, maintain appropriate agroforestry farming patterns, and limit soil quality degradation.