Table 4 Forest characteristics and fuel loads in tropical dry thorn forests in the Nilgiri (1996 to 2005) and Sathyamangalam (1997 to 2012) landscapes. Means are presented with standard deviations, utilizing Welch’s t test.

Tree species richness (no. per 0.5 ha)

19.2 ± 6.8**

11.3 ± 4.4

Trees >10 cm dbh (ha⁻¹)

148 ± 45**

93 ± 49

Basal area (m² ha⁻¹)

8.7 ± 2.3^***

3.0 ± 2

1 hr fuels (Mg ha⁻¹)

0.7 ± 0.3^ns

0.5 ± 0.2

10 hr fuels (Mg ha⁻¹)

0.6 ± 0.4

1.6 ± 0.7***

100 hr fuels (Mg ha⁻¹)

1.2 ± 1.3

7.4 ± 8**

1000 hr fuels (Mg ha⁻¹)

2.5 ± 1.7^ns

4.5 ± 7

Total fuels (Mg ha-1)

5.1 ± 2.5

14.0 ± 15^*