Myristica dactyloides

About: Myristica dactyloides is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 17 publications have been published within this topic receiving 249 citations.

Vegetation composition, structure and patterns of diversity: a case study from the tropical wet evergreen forests of the western ghats, india

Abstract: The composition, abundance, population structure and distribution patterns of the woody species having a girth at breast height of ≥ 10 cm were investigated in the tropical wet evergreen forests of the Kalakad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve in the southern Western Ghats, India. A 3 ha plot was established with an altitudinal range of 1170 to 1306 m. In the study plot 5624 individuals (mean density 1875 ha−1) covering 68 woody species belonging to 52 genera and 27 families were enumerated. The mean basal area was 47.01 m2 ha–1 and the Shannon and Simpson diversity indices were 4.89 and 0.95, respectively. Of these woody species nearly 51% are endemic to the Western Ghats. The four dominant species, Cullenia exarillata, Palaquium ellipticum, Aglaia bourdillonii and Myristica dactyloides, account for 34% of the trees and 67% of the basal area, and therefore constitute the main structure of the forest. Within this forest type, five species assemblages corresponding to altitudinal gradient were identified using correspondence analysis. Management of such mid elevation evergreen forests necessarily depends on knowledge of recognisable community types and their environmental variables. The present study provides essential background for formulating strategies for sustainable conservation of forest communities at the local level.

Pollinators, pollination efficiency and fruiting success in a wild nutmeg, Myristica dactyloides

Abstract: We investigated the pollinator assemblage in Myristica dactyloides, a dioecious tree species occupying the intermediate canopy stratum of the mid- and high-elevation wet evergreen forests and endemic to Sri Lanka and the Western Ghats of India. We surveyed two populations and, in one of them, marked four male and three female trees for observations on floral display and insect foraging, and two female trees for experimental pollination. Yellow sticky traps were used to sample insects in the canopy during the flowering season of December 2007 in addition to direct observations of insect activity in 2006. Myristicaceae members from other tropical areas have been reported to be specialized to beetle pollination, but our observations provide evidence of a generalist pollination system in M. dactyloides, composed of small, diverse insects: thysanopterans (thrips), coleopterans (beetles), halictid bees and dipterans (syrphid and phorid flies). Quantifying floral display, we found that female inflorescences were smaller, offered no reward and attracted significantly fewer pollinators in comparison to male inflorescences. Fruit set was low and could be attributed to a 29% flower abscission and abortion of young fruits, but a reasonably high natural pollination efficiency combined with pollination experiments established that there was no pollination limitation in the study population.