The basal area (BA) of upper montane forest (altitude
above 1800 m) normally lies between 30 and 70 m²/ha (Lovett 1993a). Three of
the plots in the upper montane forest (Kimhandu-4 [2145 m], Lanzi-2 [1940 m] and Lanzi-3 [2120 m]) have very large total basal area. The comparatively lower basal area
at Kimhandu-5 (2520 m) should be seen in the light that bamboos (very
prominent) are not included. The BA of montane forest (altitude 1200-1800 m)
normally lies between 30 and 120 m²/ha. The Kimhandu-1 (1520 m) plot has a BA
of 141.57 m²/ha. The BA’s of other plots lie within normal range.
According to the Spearman rank correlation coefficient
using a significance level of 5% there were no correlations between the total
number of stems and total BA of the plots. A positive correlation between
number of individuals and number of species was found using a significant level
of 5%.
The Simpson index shows a maximum diversity at the
plots at Kimhandu-3 (1940 m) and Lanzi-2 (1920 m) with a very high value for
the Lanzi-2 (1920 m) plot. The Shannon index also has its maximum at the
Lanzi-2 (1920 m) plot but at Kimhandu it is Kamhandu-2 (1710 m) station that
has the highest value. This is a result of the Shannon index being biases towards
species richness, the Kimhandu-2 (1720 m) plot having the highest number of
species (34 species) and the Simpson index being biased towards evenness, the
plots Kimhandu-3 (1940 m) and Lanzi-2 (1920 m) having the highest equitability.