• Dr Sarita Srivastava
• Ms Urvija Shankar

Allahabad is located at 25.45°N 81.84°E in the southern part of the Uttar Pradesh at an elevation of 98 meters (322 ft) and stands at the confluence of two, the Ganges and Yamuna. The region was known in antiquity as the DOAB of two holy rivers Ganga and Yamuna. As such the Ganga Yamuna Doab area is very fertile plain in the country. Agriculture is dominant in the fertile zone of two rivers. The soil alluvial rich in loam. But the soil diversity is seen in different areas of Allahabad. The terrestrial ecosystem in Allahabad area is 90 % dominated by forest covers and grasslands are found in patches often arising due to destruction of forest cover for residential uses. The grasslands play a major role in maintaining the herbivore population of a place and thereby important for ecosystem dynamics. Grassland diversity plays a major role in determining the herbivores population and also adding to the biodiversity of an area. The role of herbivores in controlling plant species richness is a critical issue in the conservation and management of grassland biodiversity. Human activities have mainly affected the grassland all over the world and much of the area has been converted in to agricultural land. As a result of excessive human interference, it is difficult to locate virgin grassland in our country. Biodiversity, a multidimensional property of natural systems, is difficult to quantify partly because of the multitude of indices proposed for this purpose. Diversity Indices aim to describe general properties of communities that allow us to compare different regions, taxa, and trophic levels. Therefore, diversity indices play a fundamental role in environmental monitoring and conservation, although there is no consensus about which indices are more appropriate and informative A study of grassland ecosystem diversity deals with the variations in ecosystems within a geographical location and its overall impact on human existence and the environment. Ecological diversity is a type of biodiversity. It is the variation in the ecosystems found in a region or the variation in ecosystems over the whole planet. Ecological diversity can also take into account the variation in the complexity of a biological community, including the number of different niches, the number of trophic levels and other ecological processes. An example of ecological diversity on a global scale would be the variation in ecosystems, such as deserts, forests, grasslands, wetlands and oceans. Ecological diversity is the largest scale of biodiversity, and within each ecosystem, there is a great deal of both species and genetic diversity. We normally use common diversity indices of species richness (S), Shannon’s diversity (H’), Simpson’s diversity (D1), Simpson’s dominance (D2), Simpson’s evenness (E) for community analysis. So far, there is no comprehensive phytosociological study on grassland ecosystems of Allahabad area have been undertaken. Using the diversity indices, the objective of the present study was to quantify the grassland community in Allahabad area to generate baseline information on the distribution patterns and composition of the species of grasslands in the District. This will also support long term conservation strategies and species level monitoring of biodiversity in Allahabad. The present effort is to study the grassland diversity in Allahabad area to channelize the conservation strategy for biodiversity of Allahabad.

Grassland ecosystem, Density , frequency, Diversity, Simpsons index Abundance

"A study of index of dominance in the grasslands ecosystem", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.5, Issue 9, page no.44-61, September 2018, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1809984.pdf

"A study of index of dominance in the grasslands ecosystem", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.5, Issue 9, page no. pp44-61, September 2018, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1809984.pdf