Tree population structure of certain Himalayan forest associations and implications concerning their future composition

Abstract

This study deals with the regeneration status of certain tree components of forests in the northwestern catchment of the river Gola in Kumaun Himalaya and explores possible compositional changes in time.Pinus roxburghii, Quercusfloribunda and Quercus lanuginosa in their respective forest types had a stable population structure with a large percentage of young individuals (seedlings) and relatively few old ones, indicating that these species are frequent reproducers. The girth class distribution of the individuals of Quercus leucotrichophora in the Quercus leucotrichophora forest suggests that this species is likely to disappear gradually. In this forest, although forest composition will remain unchanged for some time, a complete absence of seedlings of any species shows the possibility of its complete replacement by a scrub or a grassland vegetation. In the mixed forest, the dominant species, viz., Quercus leucotrichophora, Persea odoratissima and Bauhinia retusa did not have saplings/seedlings, indicating a possible change in forest composition in the near future when Sapium insigne, Cocculus laurifolius, Celtis eriocarpa and Acer oblongum are likely to gain dominance. Finally, suggestions are made to explain the poor regeneration of Quercus leucotrichophora.

Floristic Composition, Structure and Soil Properties of Mixed Deciduous Forest and Deciduous Dipterocarp Forest: Case Study in Madan Watershed, Myanmar

“…In vertical structure, most species and individuals were concentrated in lowest height class due to diameter and high of trees are closely related. The population structure characterized by the presence of adequate number of seedlings, saplings and young trees depicts satisfactory regeneration behavior, while inadequate number of seedlings and saplings of tree species in a forest indicates its poor regeneration [18]. The regeneration potential of a species in a community can be assessed from the population dynamics of seedlings and saplings in the forest [19].…”

Modeling diameter distribution of the broadleaved-Korean pine mixed forest on Changbai Mountains of China

“…For species, the different diameter distributions reveal the regeneration patterns, continuous and discontinuous, as indicated by Saxena [16] . S1, S3 and so on belong to the former category, the normal distribution including S2, S4 and S7 comports with the latter.…”

Forest structure, diversity and regeneration potential along altitudinal gradient in Dhanaulti of Garhwal Himalaya

“…The population structure, characterized by the presence of sufficient population of seedlings, saplings and adults, indicates successful regeneration of forest species (Saxena. & Singh, 1984), and the presence of saplings under the canopies of adult trees also indicates the future composition of a community (Austin, 1977;Pokhriyal et al, 2010).…”