International Journal of Environmental Science and Development

Abstract—Forests are the lungs of our planet making them a very essential part of all the living organisms. For the very first time this kind of research study has been carried out in Coorg (Kodagu), also called as the Scotland of India, which has the largest green cover in the state, to quantify the effects of soil microbes on the lush green forests. The results showed an overall positive curvature. Different soil sample analysis of different forest patches showed that all the factors are interrelated in such a way that only those forests that have a healthy soil cover, which received a good amount of sun light, show a good co-relation with all the enzymatic activities. In this research we studied that soil microbial carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus are the main factors regulating the good forest health, all the results showed a descent similarity except in the land slide area and the river bank. In addition, more positive results were found in the forests having mixed vegetation rather than monotonous plantations. The results also emphasized the poor soil quality and lesser Water holding capacity at the land slide sites providing substantial evidence for the recent August 2020 land slide that occurred at Talakaveri in Kodagu.

Keywords—enzyme activity, forest, Sahyadri, soil organic matter, Talakaveri

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Cite: Mayur Uday Karvekar, Kalyan Raj, and Malini. S, "Conjunction of Soil Biota to Green Vegetation in Western Ghats Forests of Coorg, India," International Journal of Environmental Science and Development vol. 15, no. 4, pp. 204-210, 2024.

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