Introduction Forests are local or regional segments of landscapes in which biological and ecological conditions and processes are

dominated by the presence of trees. The size and longevity of trees confer on them the ability to dominate other plant types by expropriating light and soil resources. This enable trees to control the major ecological processes, to determine the habitat of animals, microbes, and other plant types, and to play a major role in determining the abundance of these other organisms in the forest. Forests can also be dominated by large plants with woody stems that are not strictly trees, such as bamboo or tree ferns. Forest ecosystems are continually changing. This change, initiated by external disturbance factors but largely determined by internal ecosystem processes, is vital for the maintenance of many aspect of biological diversity. Change is always occurring, whether it is simply because branches are dying, because individual trees are getting larger, because natural processes are causing mortality that reduces the number of living trees in an area, or because of fire, wind, snow, insects, disease epidemics or forest harvesting are periodically causing major modifications to ecosystem structure, species composition and function. Changes in local and regional forest ecosystems over time are the combined result of all these processes: climate change, allogenic and biogenic change and autogenic change. Forest communities are much more than just an assembly of trees. They are an extremely complex, interacting, and coordinated system. Biological regions, like ecosystems and biomes, are often named for the dominant forms of plant life; hence the terms: grasslands, rain forests, scrub forests, deciduous forests. These names not only describe dominant plant forms; they also reflect abiotic factors such as climate, latitude and altitude (Kricher, 1988). A community is a group of populations of different species occupying a specific area. Several physical properties of communities can be described, including species diversity, horizontal and vertical structure, and dominance (Krebs, 1985). Biologist can describe communities more specifically by naming particular plants in the community. Plant communities are often too heterogeneous to be described by a single dominant species or by listing all the species present. Thus communities are often described by the species or genera that are determined to be the most dominant in the community.

The value of knowing the physical structure of a plant community is that it can tell us something about the biological structure of the community, i.e., something about interactions between species and how the community functions in gathering energy and cycling nutrients. There are several ways to analyze community structure. Methods include setting up a plot of a particular size and counting and measuring all the individual plants within that plot. Methods which don't require setting up a rectangular grid are known as plotless methods; these methods include the line intercept method, the point-quarter method (Smith and Smith, 2001) and the wandering quarter method. Methodology A transect line about 50 meters long was laid down the slope 10 meters away from the transect line of the other group. The width of the area to be observed is 10 meters so the area is 50mx10m. The nearest tree at the base line and was seen at 90 angle was the first sample. The trunk circumference at the base and at the breast height of the trees was determined using a tape measure. Form the first sample tree the nearest tree to it within the 90 inclusion angle their distance was measured and recorded. This step was repeated until the predetermined number of trees and distances was measured within the parameter. It was like zigzagging through the forest from one tree to the next. The vertical height of each tree was also measured. The height from the base to the first branch of the tree was measured and then the height from the first branch to the canopy of the tree. The length of the canopy from the right side of the tree and also from the left side was also measured by estimating its length while standing at the trunk of the tree. The estimation of the height of the trees was done by taking photographs of the trees with a person, whose height was known, standing beside the tree. The height of the person was used as a means of measuring the height of the trees. A community profile was drawn using the data collected by using ratio and proportion. References: Smith, R.L. and T. M. Smith. 2001. Ecology and Field Biology, 6th edition. Addison Wesley Longman, San Francisco, 771 pages. Kricher, John C. and G. Morrison. 1988. Ecology of Eastern Forests, the Peterson Field Guide Series,

Houghton-Mifflin Co., New York, 368 pages. Kimmins, J.P.2006. Forest Ecology.