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Community structure and regeneration status of Sal (Shorea robusta Gaertn.) forests of Dadeldhura district, Western Nepal

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Abstract

Community structure and regeneration are the determinant factors for the sustainability of forests. The present study aims to: (1) know the community structure and regeneration of Sal (Shorea robusta Gaertn.)-dominated community forests at two developmental stages (age of forests after community management) of Dadeldhura District of western Nepal and (2) know the impacts of management duration on forest regeneration. Vegetation data were collected from 105 square plots (100, 25 and 4 m2) applying a nested quadrat method. Forty-two tree species belonging 34 genera and 20 families and 41 shrub species belonging 35 genera and 24 families were recorded. Sal was the dominant species, while Dipterocarpaceae was the dominant family of the forests. Per hectare, there were 4408 plants, 15.4 m2 basal area, 15,905 seedlings, 1876 saplings and 1287 trees. Seedling, sapling and tree density and size class distribution curve indicate the satisfactory regeneration status of the forest with a stable population. Regeneration was affected by species richness, canopy cover, soil pH and nitrogen. Density and regeneration were higher in the forest at the developmental stage of 20 years than the forest at the developmental stage of 10 years.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Krishna Prasad Sharma, Minu Adhikari and Rajeshwor Pandey for their hard work during data collection; Prabin Bhandari for his help in the preparation of a map of the study area; members of community forest user’s groups Laxmi Datta Bhattarai, Bir Bahadur Khadka and Hark Bahadur Sakhi for their support and participation in the fieldwork; authorities of the community forest user’s groups as they granted permission to work in their respective community forests; District Forest Office and Jogbuda Range Forest Office of Dadeldhura district for providing the necessary information and operational plans of the community forests; anonymous reviewers for their insightful suggestions.

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  1. Central Department of Botany, Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur, Kathmandu, 44613, Nepal

    Suresh Prashad Bhatta & Anjana Devkota

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  1. Suresh Prashad Bhatta
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Bhatta, S.P., Devkota, A. Community structure and regeneration status of Sal (Shorea robusta Gaertn.) forests of Dadeldhura district, Western Nepal. COMMUNITY ECOLOGY 21, 191–201 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42974-020-00021-8

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