Assessing diversity and ecosystem services of trees in educational institutions: A case study of a university campus from the Global South

ABSTRACT

The university campuses in the Global South (low- and middle-income countries of the world) harbour a significant proportion of the trees outside forests which furnish precious ecosystem services. In this study, we conducted field surveys to document the tree flora in the campus of Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak (Haryana), India. We documented 35,184 trees belonging to 66 species in 29 families from the campus. Eucalyptus globulus was the most dominant tree species with 13,932 individuals and Fabaceae was the most speciose family. Nearly 60% of tree species in the campus were native. The mean height (m) and circumference at breast height (cm) for the tree flora were 6.51 ± 0.21 and 50.93 ± 1.11, respectively. The overall tree density on the campus was around 140 trees/ha, mean density 2.11 ± 0.87, and the average basal area 0.021 ± 0.0009 m²/tree. The values for Simpson’s, Shannon, Margalef’s and Pielou’s evenness indices were 0.18, 2.51, 6.21 and 0.6 respectively. The campus trees provide valuable ecosystem services with food and medicinal uses, ornamental and shade values being the dominant. Our findings will guide policy on urban environmental sustainability in the educational campuses in India – the second most populous country in the Global South.

KEYWORDS:

• Trees
• biodiversity
• ecosystem services
• urban sustainability
• environmental education

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), New Delhi, University Grants Commission (UGC), New Delhi and Haryana State Council for Science and Technology (HSCST), Panchkula and FIST, New Delhi for providing the financial assistance. Authors are also thankful to the Editor and anonymous reviewers for their careful reading of our manuscript and their many insightful comments and suggestions.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/03071375.2022.2092349

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Haryana State Council for Science and Technology [Dr. Surender Singh Yadav];

Notes on contributors

Abhishek Nandal

Abhishek Nandal is a senior research fellow working at the Department of Botany, Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak (Haryana) India. His research interests are mainly focused on assessing the carbon sequestration potential of tree species in higher educational institutions. He is also engaged in studying phytosociological parameters, calculating ecosystem services, and carbon stock estimation of vegetation in urban landscapes.

Surender Singh Yadav

Surender Singh Yadav is working as an Associate Professor in Department of Botany, Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak (Haryana) India. He is also the elected member of the Executive Council; Coordinator, University Outreach Programme; and Deputy Director, Campus Forestry at M.D. University Rohtak. His research interests span across the disciplines of biodiversity conservation, ecology, floristics, plant taxonomy, climate change, biological invasion, ethnobotany and bio-prospection of medicinal flora. He is also actively engaged in science popularisation, tree plantation and environment awareness campaigns in different parts of India.

Anzar Ahmad Khuroo is an Associate Professor and Officer In Charge, at the Center for Biodiversity & Taxonomy, Department of Botany, University of Kashmir, Srinagar, India. His broad research interests span across the disciplines of plant taxonomy, ecology and biodiversity. Currently some of the focal areas of his research are floristic and systematic studies; impact assessment, and management protocols of invasive alien plants at multiple spatial scales, and impacts of anthropogenic climate change on plant phenology.

Anzar Ahmad Khuroo

Anzar Ahmad Khuroo is an Associate Professor and Officer In Charge, at the Center for Biodiversity & Taxonomy, Department of Botany, University of Kashmir, Srinagar, India. His broad research interests span across the disciplines of plant taxonomy, ecology and biodiversity. Currently some of the focal areas of his research are floristic and systematic studies; impact assessment, and management protocols of invasive alien plants at multiple spatial scales, and impacts of anthropogenic climate change on plant phenology.

Amrender Singh Rao

Amrender Singh Rao is a research scholar at the Department of Botany, Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak (Haryana) India. He is also working as regional coordinator at Haryana State Biodiversity Board, India. His research interests include bio-prospection of medicinal flora, biodiversity conservation and preparation of people’s biodiversity register.

Neetu Singh

Neetu Singh is a research scholar at the Department of Botany, Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak (Haryana) India. Her research interests include floristics, bio-prospection of spices, and estimation of biomass and carbon stock of tree species.

Ashmita Chhikara

Ashmita Chhikara is a research scholar at the Department of Botany, Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak (Haryana) India. Her research interests include bio-prospection of medicinal plants.