Abstract
The present study was conducted in the Ramnagar Forest Division of Uttarakhand. Total 45 quadrats were laid by nested quadrat method for the phytosociological and ordination analysis of herb, shrub and tree layers. The data collected from the field was analyzed for frequency, density and abundance and finally importance values index (IVI) was calculated for all the species. The results of the study shows that Sal (Shorea robusta) was the most dominant plant species with 117 tree ha–1 density, 48.05 cm diameter and highest importance value (112.37) at tree layer and moderate contributor at shrub (IVI, 33.22) and herb (IVI, 32.94) layers. M. velutina with average diameter of 7.46 cm and density, 733 trees ha–1, was the other important species of the forest. The Principle Component Analyses (PCA) of the species shows that M. velutina was negatively associated with S. robusta, Anogeissus latifolia, Mallotus philippensis and Holarrhena antidysenterica and positively associated Cassia fistula and Diospyros melanoxylon. Population structure of the dominant species shows that S. robusta has started reviving from the losses due to mortality and it will start dominating these forests, once again, in near future.
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