A. R. Koul , D. S. Chauhan , N. P. Todaria

Abstract

The study related to density and regeneration in response to anthropogenic disturbance along the altitudinal and horizontal gradients in sacred forests of Trikuta hills in J&K showed a gradual decrease in anthropogenic disturbance level with the increase in altitudinal gradient and horizontal distance from the main track leading to shrine at each forest stand. On the basis of point scaling of different parameters, the higher altitudinal stand (2000-2200 m amsl) represented undisturbed stand, while intermediate (1400-1600 m asl) and lower altitudinal stands (800-1000 m amsl) were moderately disturbed. The density of tree species also showed an increasing trend with the increase in altitude 2 2 with highest density of 10.83 individuals/100m² at stand III and lowest of 7.5 individuals /100m² at stand I. In case of horizontal blocks for all the stands, density showedan increasing trend with the decreasing disturbance level. Seedling and sapling density at lower altitude indicate future generation of mixed species, intermediate stand revealed dominance of Pinus roxburghii, while at higher altitude Pinus roxburghii and Quercus leucotricophora have promising future.

Keywords

Disturbance, Regeneration, Density, Altitude, Forest Stand

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D. S. Chauhan ¹, Sunil Prasad ¹, Vikaspal Singh ¹, N. P. Todaria ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Forestry and NR, H.N.B. Garhwal University, Srinagar Garhwal, 246 174, Uttarakhand

Abstract

The present study was carried out in broad leaved evergreen oak forests of Garhwal Himalaya, Uttarakhand, India (1500-2100 m amsl.) along disturbance gradient. In this study, some disturbance indicators i.e. canopy cover, stand density, grazing intensity, lopping intensity, number of cut stumps and climber invasion have been evaluated and with the help of these indicators the forest area has been categorized into three categories viz. undisturbed, moderately disturbed and highly disturbed. The study revealed that tree diversity decreased with increasing intensity of disturbance in case of tree and herb species but it was found maximum in moderately disturbed stands for both layers (tree, herb) whereas, in case of shrub species, Shannon diversity increased with increasing disturbance level. Simpson dominance index was found as reverse of the Shannon index in all three layers of vegetation for all disturbance categories. Almost same trend was found in species richness. It was found more vulnerable to disturbance in case of tree and herb layers as it decreased with increasing level of disturbance but its highest values were recorded in the moderately disturbed stands in both vegetation layers. On the other hand shrub species richness favored the disturbance as it increased with increasing intensity of disturbance. As far as the regeneration is concerned, sapling and seedling density was decreased with increasing disturbance level but both the classes were found maximum in the intermediate level of disturbance. Diameter-density curves depicted a successive reduction in the number of trees from lower girth classes to upper. All the above variations in relation to species richness, distribution pattern and regeneration potential are related to anthropogenic interference.

Keywords

Disturbance Categories, Elevational Range, Floristic Analysis, Plant Diversity, Population Structure

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