Diversity And Regeneration Of Woody Species In Amber Mountain National Park, Madagascar

With the aim to establish the floristic list and to study natural regeneration of Amber Mountain, phytosociological investigation was carried out on 15 samples (50mx20m) in 4 different sites.In total,239 species were identified which are distributed in 160 genera and 73 families.159 of these species are endemic (66.52%). EUPHORBIACEAE is the most important family with average of 32.11% F.I.V. between samples, representing 9.88 % of total species with a high value of specific diversity. RUBIACEAE is the family that has more endemic species. Among the 4 studied sites Sakaramy has 69.5% endemic species and Antsalaka has many families that are not found in other sites. Diversity index showed no difference between the samples.The natural regeneration of these species is variable depending on the species. The species that have a good potential for regeneration are Dypsis lastelliana, Polyalthia sp. Homalium sp. and Cyathea sp. Just quarter of studied species have a possibility of regeneration.The park has 2 major forms of disturbance:illegal exploitation of forest resources and cultivation of khat. Between the study sites, Antsalaka is the most disturbed.Amber Mountain National Park has many endemic species but their natural regeneration is not satisfactory and the park threatened by many anthropogenic disturbances. Through this study, recommendations are made to help the sustainable management of the park.