Effect of disturbance on the regeneration of four dominant and economically important woody species in a broad-leaved subtropical humid forest of Meghalaya, northeast India

Effect of disturbance was studied on the regeneration behaviour of four dominant woody species, viz., Casearia vareca Roxb., Eurya japonica Thunb., Psychotria symplocifolia Kurz. and Rhododendron arboreum Sm., of a sacred forest which represents a subtropical wet hill forest of Meghalaya in northeast India. About one third area of this forest is undisturbed or mildly disturbed (stand I), while two thirds of this area is moderately-to-highly disturbed (stand II). Tree density, light interception and canopy cover were markedly higher in stand I when compared to stand II. E. japonica and R. arboreum are heliophilic as depicted by their greater numbers of seedlings and saplings in stand II. On the contrary, C. vareca and P. symplocifolia showed higher density of seedlings and saplings in stand I which indicates that these two species are sciophilic in nature. In all the species the per cent of saplings that grew into trees was higher than the percentage of seedlings that developed into saplings. Sprouting behaviour of four species differed greatly in two stands. The average number of sprouts per stump was higher in stand II, which could be linked to greater availability of light in this stand. E. japonica showed greater coppicing potential than the other three species. The coppicing in this species was better in stand II as compared to stand I. Analysis of variance showed a significant (P < 0.05) decrease in number of sprouts of E. japonica and R. arboreum from stand II to stand I.