Assessment of natural regeneration status: the case of Durgapur hill forest, Netrokona, Bangladesh

Md. Rayhanur Rahman; Md. Mizanur Rahman; Md. Arif Chowdhury

doi:10.1080/24749508.2019.1600911

Assessment of natural regeneration status: the case of Durgapur hill forest, Netrokona, Bangladesh

Rahman, Md. Rayhanur; Rahman, Md. Mizanur; Chowdhury, Md. Arif 2020-04-02 00:00:00 GEOLOGY, ECOLOGY, AND LANDSCAPES 2020, VOL. 4, NO. 2, 121–130 INWASCON https://doi.org/10.1080/24749508.2019.1600911 RESEARCH ARTICLE Assessment of natural regeneration status: the case of Durgapur hill forest, Netrokona, Bangladesh a a b Md. Rayhanur Rahman , Md. Mizanur Rahman and Md. Arif Chowdhury a b Institute of Forestry and Environmental Sciences, University of Chittagong, Chittagong, Bangladesh; Institute of Water and Flood Management, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY Received 16 September 2018 Enumeration of regeneration status is an authentic tool to know the actual condition of forest Accepted 26 March 2019 ecosystem. The study was conducted to assess the regeneration status of Durgapur hill forest following stratiﬁed random sampling method (2 m × 2 m quadrate) from October 2017 to May KEYWORDS 2018. A total of 27 species under 18 families were recorded from the study area. The study Biodiversity indices; revealed maximum (37.78) family importance value (FIV) index was recorded for Euphorbiaceae conservation status; family followed by Moraceae (16.09). Importance value index (IVI) of Grewia nervosa was maximum importance value (FIV); (23.97 out of 300) followed by Shorea robusta (21.02), and Aporosa wallichii (20.19). Conservation importance value index (IVI); hierarchical cluster status showed highest (77.78%) plant species were in least concerned (LC) where only one species (Dillenia pentagyna) was found as data deﬁcient (DD) category. Seedlings of diﬀerent height classes showed maximum (33.2%) seedling were within the height range of 50–<100 cm. However, diﬀerent biological diversity indices, i.e., Shannon–Winner index (H) (4.27), species evenness index (E) (1.30), Simpson index (D) (0.15), and Margalef’s species richness index (4.24) were enumerated to know the complete diversity condition of the forest area. Hierarchical cluster of the recorded species also showed that Grewia nervosa is the most dominant species in that area. Introduction participatory approach (Chowdhury, 2006). Nevertheless, Bangladesh Forest Department still lacks Tropical forests are the most diverse and complex eco- the resources capabilities for sustainable management of systems on earth, and are also the most vulnerable and such forest area (Sayed, 2017). threatened habitats for species (Carson & Schnitzer, Limited tree regeneration creates a major threat to 2011; Deb, Roy, & Wahedunnabi, 2015;Sarker, Deb, forests which makes the opportunity to clearing for &Halim, 2011;Schmidt, 2007). In several tropical for- agricultural expansion (McDermott, Cashore, & ests, logging has been reported to have a negative Kanowski, 2010; Pröpper et al., 2010;Rudel, 2013). impact on the natural regeneration of commercial and However, the knowledge base of plant regeneration highly valuable rare species (Grogan et al., 2008; status helps in developing management options and Hawthorne, Sheil, Agyeman, Juam, & Marshall, 2012; setting priorities (Haider, Alam, & Mohiuddin, 2017; Schulze, Grogan, Uhl, Lentini, & Vidal, 2008). Zegeye, Teketay, & Kelbessa, 2011). Regeneration is Therefore, tropical forestry is confronted today with essential for conservation and maintenance of biodiver- the task of ﬁnding suitable strategies and techniques to sity in natural forests (Hossain, Rahman, Hoque, & enhance forest regeneration and restore abandoned Alam, 2004; Rahman, Khan, Roy, & Fardusi, 2011). lands (Deb et al., 2015; Montagnini & Jordan, 2005). Hence, forest natural regeneration is a natural biological The total area of Bangladesh’s hill forests is 6,70,000 ha process of forest resource restoration in ecosystem spreading over the region of the Chittagong, Cox’sBazar, dynamics (Wang, Li, Yu, & Chen, 2008)which involves Sylhet and Chittagong Hill Tracts where 44% of these asexual and sexual reproduction, dispersal and estab- managed by the Forest Department (Khan, Uddin, lishment in relation to environmental factors (Barnes, Uddin, Chowdhury, & Mukul, 2007). Countries forest Zak, Denton, & Spurr, 1997). During this process tree inventory indicated a growing stock of 23.93 million dominant plant communities developed and evolved, cubic meters of wood with rich faunal diversity conserve which has far-reaching impact on the structure of forest by the hill forests area (Rana et al., 2009;Roy, 2004). in the future (Han & Wang, 2002). Traditionally, the management approach of those forests Durgapur hill forest is one of the remnant places of Sal was clear felling followed by artiﬁcial regeneration of forest patches in Bangladesh where economically and valuable species. Nowadays, the forest management in ecologically valuable tree species are needs to be prior- diﬀerent hill forest Divisions is totally based on a itized for conservation and scientiﬁc management CONTACT Md. Arif Chowdhury arifchowdhury065@gmail.com Research Associate, Institute of Water and Flood Management, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. 122 M. R. RAHMAN ET AL. (Rahman, Rahman, Chowdhury, & Akhter, 2019). The square kilometers and consists of seven Unions. The forest has been cleared brutally within the last 30 to study area is located in the most northern part of 50 years as the demand for energy, construction, wood, Durgapur, having the coordinates of 25°7′30″ Nand food,fodderhas increasedasaresult of theincreasein 90°41′18″ E (Wiki, 2018)(Figure 1). Topographically, both human and livestock. The main causes of deforesta- the study area is characterized by its large hillocks, tion and forest degradation in this area were tree cutting known as “tilla” with irregular plain land. The soil for fuelwood, and construction materials production for pH ﬂuctuates from 6 to 6.5 (Rashid, 1991). The highest sale especially. A number of studies are available focused temperature reaches to 30°C during May and coldest on natural regeneration status in diﬀerent natural forests to around 10°C during January where the annual rain- of Bangladesh provide potential information for many fall in this area is 2712 mm (CLIMATE-DATA.ORG, nativetreespecies (Haideretal., 2017; Hossain, Hossain, 2019). However, the temperature here averages 25.2°C Salam, & Rahman, 2013;Hossain,Azad, &Alam, 1999; and most of the precipitation here falls in June, aver- Hossain & Hossain, 2014; Motaleb & Hossain, 2007; aging 581 mm (Figure 2). Miah, Udin, & Bhuiyan, 1999;Nur,Nandi, Jashimuddin, & Hossain, 2016; Rahman, Rahman, Data collection Chowdhury, & Akhter, 2019;Rahmanetal., 2011)and diversity in forest (Chowdhury, Islam, Haﬁz, & Islam, The study area was visited prior to the ﬁeldwork in 2018;Rahman etal., 2019), but research work on regen- 2017, to have a general idea of the site, topography, eration aspect of forest is not available where Durgapur accessibility, and species composition. A complete hill forest lacks information regarding natural regenera- stratiﬁed random quadrat method was adapted for tion, stocking, and conservation issues. This study will this study. Where, a total of 42 sample plots enrich the knowledge of natural regeneration and quan- (2 m × 2 m) were laid within the study area for the titative distribution of plant species in the case of hill assessment of regeneration. Regenerated trees having forest which may be useful in providing guidelines for ≤2 cm diameter at breast height (DBH) was consid- future management of forest. ered as seedlings. Seedlings of all species in each plot were identiﬁed and recorded by local and scientiﬁc names. The common tree species were identiﬁed Materials and methods directly in the ﬁeld, while the fertile samples of the unknown tree species were collected for the prepara- Study site tion of herbarium specimens. Collected plant speci- Durgapur is surrounded by Meghalaya state of India mens were dried in the sun following standard on the north, Purbadhala and Netrokona Sadar on the scientiﬁc method. Consultation was done with pub- south, Kalmakanda on the east, and Dhobaura sub- lished journals and reference book like (Prain, 1903; district on the west. The study was conducted during Uddin, Hassan, Rahman, & Areﬁn, 2012) and October 2017 to May 2018. Durgapur Upazila (small Encyclopedia of Flora and Fauna of Bangladesh city) of Netrokona District, having an area of 293.42 (Ahmed et al., 2008) to determine the unknown Figure 1. Study area map of Durgapur, Netrokona District. GEOLOGY, ECOLOGY, AND LANDSCAPES 123 30 700 0 0 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Month Figure 2. Mean annual precipitation and temperature at Durgapur. species. Taxonomist from the Institute of Forestry seedlings, hierarchical cluster analysis was done and Environmental Sciences, University of using computer software package SPSS (version 23). Chittagong (IFESCU) and the Bangladesh Forest Species diversity index (S ) starts from 1 when Di Research Institute (BFRI) also helped for species there is only one individuals of one species, the value identiﬁcation. reach to maximum with the increase of species num- ber (Odum, 1971). Margalef’sindex (R)ishigh in communities that include a greater number of species Analysis of ﬁeld data and in which the number of individuals of each species decreases relatively slowly on passing from more abun- For many years, species richness, various diversity dant to less abundant ones (Margalef, 1958). indices, species density, stem density, species impor- Shannon–Wiener diversity index value is maximum tance value index are used to assess population when the number of individuals of all species is dynamics and their diversity (Gimaret-Carpentier, equal; value is zero if there is only one species Pélissier, Pascal, & Houllier, 1998). The ﬁeld data (Michael, 1984). With Simpson’s diversity index (D), were compiled and analyzed for family relative den- 0 represents inﬁnite diversity and 1, no diversity. sity (FD%), family relative diversity (Fr%), family Simpson’s diversity index is neither intuitive nor logi- importance value (FIV), density, relative density cal, so get over the problem, d is often subtracted from (RD%), frequency, relative frequency (RF%), abun- 1 to give Dominance of Simpson’s index (D´). The dance, relative abundance (RA%), and importance value of this index also ranges between 0 and almost 1, value index (IVI). The equations (1–10) used for but now, the greater the value, the greater the sample calculating phytosociological characters are listed in diversity (Magurran, 1988). With increase the value, Table 1. However, the equations (1–7) used for cal- the greater the diversity. The maximum value is the culating ﬂoral diversity indices are listed in Table 2. number of species (or other category being used) in Conservation status of regenerating trees of Durgapur the sample. Species Evenness index (E) also known as was assessed following the Encyclopedia of Flora and Shannon’s equitable index, assumes a value between 0 Fauna of Bangladesh (Ahmed et al., 2008). In addi- and 1 with 1 being complete evenness (Pielou, 1966). tion, to determine the dominance of regenerating Table 1. The list of equations used for calculating phytosociological characters of the vegetation. Phytosociological attributes Formula Equation No References Family relative density (Fd) 1 (Mori, Boom, & de Carvalino, 1983) Fd ¼ 100 Ti Family relative diversity (Fr) 2 (Rahman et al., 2011) Fr ¼ 100 Ts Family importance value (FIV) FIV ¼ Fd þ Fr 3 (Rahman et al., 2011) Density (D) D ¼ 4 (Shukla, 2000) Relative density (RD) RD ¼ 100 5 (Dallmeier, Kabel, & Rice, 1992; Misra, 1968) Frequency (F) F ¼ 6 (Shukla, 2000) Fi Relative frequency (RF) P 7 (Dallmeier et al., 1992; Misra, 1968) RF ¼ s ðÞ Fi i¼1 Abundance (A) A ¼ 8 (Shukla, 2000) Ai Relative abundance (RA) P 9 (Misra, 1968) RA ¼ s ðÞ Ai i¼1 Importance value index (IVI) IVI ¼RD þ RF þ RA 10 (Misra, 1968; Shukla, 2000) N : number of individual in a family; T : total number of individuals; N : number of species in a family; T : total number of species, a: total number of f i s s individuals of a species in all the quadrats; b: total number of quadrats studied; n: total number of individuals of the species; N: total number of individuals of all the species; c: total number of quadrats in which the species occurs; b: total number of quadrats studied; Fi: frequency of one species; Ai: abundance of one species Temperature C Precipitation (mm) 124 M. R. RAHMAN ET AL. Table 2. The list of equations used for calculating biodiversity indices of the vegetation. Biodiversity indices Formula Equation No. References Species diversity index (S)S ¼ S=N 1 (Odum, 1971) Di Di Shannon-Wiener’s diversity index (H) 2 (Michael, 1984) H¼ P ln P i i i¼1 Shannon’s maximum diversity index (H)H ¼ LnðÞ S 3 (Kent, 2011) max max ðÞ S1 Margalef’s species richness index (R) 4 (Margalef, 1958) R ¼ LNðÞ N Simpson’s diversity index (D) 5 (Magurran, 1988) D ¼¼ P i¼1 i Dominance of Simpson’s index (D´) D ¼ 1 D 6 (Magurran, 1988) Species (Pielou’s) evenness index (E) E ¼ 7 (Pielou, 1966) LnðÞ S th H: Shannon–Wiener’s diversity index; N: total number of individuals of all the species; Pi: number of individuals of i species/total number of individuals in the samples; S: total number of species; n is the number of individuals of each species. Results on the basis of the conservation status, density, relative density, relative frequency, relative abun- Regeneration status of tree species observed in dance and IVI. The regeneration study shows that Durgapur hill forest the number of regenerating seedlings was found A total of 462 seedlings of 27 species under 18 families were higher for G. nervosa (2916 seedlings/ha) followed recorded from DHF where maximum ﬁve species was by S. robusta (2261 seedlings/ha), and A. wallichii found for Euphorbiaceae family followed by Moraceae (2023 seedlings/ha) (Table 4). Maximum relative (3) (Table 3). Highest (19.26%) family relative density density (10.61%) was recorded for G. nervosa fol- was represented by Euphorbiaceae followed by Tiliaceae lowed by S. robusta (8.23%), A. wallichii (7.36%), (10.61%) whereas maximum (18.52%) family relative den- and A. polystachya (6.28%). Relative frequency of A. sity index found for Euphorbiaceae followed by Moraceae wallichii has the highest value (10.36%) followed by (11.11%). Similar trends of result showed for family impor- S. robusta (9.91%), G. nervosa (9.46%), and H. cor- tance value (FIV) index where Euphor difolia (7.66%). However, the highest (5.50%) rela- biaceae found maximum (37.78) followed by Moraceae tive abundance was calculated for B. tomentosa (16.09), Mimosaceae (15.42), and Caesalpiniaceae (14.98) followed by B. ceiba (5.35%), and Z. mauritiana (Table 3). (5.02%). G. nervosa had the maximum IVI (23.97) followed by S. robusta (21.02), A. wallichii (20.19), H. cordifolia (15.84), and A. polystachya (15.72) Quantitative characters of naturally regenerating (Table 4). tree species of Durgapur hill forest In addition, all the recorded plants were found to be represented by ﬁve conservation categories, viz. The quantitative structure of naturally regenerating conservation dependent (CD), data deﬁcient (DD), tree species in the Durgapur hill forest was studied least concern (LC), not evaluated (NE), not evaluated but seems to be rare (NE but rare). A total of 77.78% Table 3. Family composition, number of species, number of individuals under each family, family relative density (FRD), plant species (21 species out of 27) were found as LC family relative diversity (FRDI), and family importance value which represents maximum plant species among all (FIV) index of the regenerating trees in Durgapur hill forest. the categories. Only one species (D. pentagyna) con- Sl No. of Species FRD FRDI servation status was found in DD category. Moreover, No. Family seedling No. (%) (%) FIV NE and NE but rare plant species were represented 1 Annonaceae 5 1 1.08 3.70 4.79 by 3.7% and 7%, respectively. Eventually, there were 2 Apocynaceae 19 1 4.11 3.70 7.82 not a single species found which may fall either 3 Bombacaceae 16 1 3.46 3.70 7.17 vulnerable or rare category. 4 Caesalpiniaceae 35 2 7.58 7.41 14.98 5 Combretaceae 14 1 3.03 3.70 6.73 6 Dilleniaceae 9 1 1.95 3.70 5.65 7 Dipterocarpaceae 38 1 8.23 3.70 11.93 Distribution of seedlings into diﬀerent height 8 Euphorbiaceae 89 5 19.26 18.52 37.78 classes 9 Lauraceae 26 1 5.63 3.70 9.33 10 Lecythidaceae 7 1 1.52 3.70 5.22 Stratiﬁcation of regenerated species considering their 11 Lythraceae 7 1 1.52 3.70 5.22 height indicates the extent of ecological functioning and 12 Mimosaceae 37 2 8.01 7.41 15.42 diversity in the study area. The percentage distribution of 13 Moraceae 23 3 4.98 11.11 16.09 all the recorded seedlings of all species is shown in 14 Myrtaceae 19 1 4.11 3.70 7.82 six height (cm) classes, viz. 0–<50 cm, 50–<100 cm, 15 Rhamnaceae 18 1 3.90 3.70 7.60 100–<150 cm, 150–<200 cm, 200–<250 cm, 250– 16 Rubiaceae 29 2 6.28 7.41 13.68 17 Tiliaceae 49 1 10.61 3.70 14.31 <300 cm. The study revealed maximum (33.2%) seed- 18 Verbenaceae 22 1 4.76 3.70 8.47 lings were within a height range of 50–<100 cm whereas GEOLOGY, ECOLOGY, AND LANDSCAPES 125 Table 4. Conservation status, seedlings per hectare, relative density (RD), relative frequency (RF), relative abundance (RA), importance value index (IVI), and conservation status of the regenerating tree species of the Durgapur hill forest. Conservation SL No. Local name Scientiﬁc name status Seedling/ha RD (%) RF (%) RA (%) IVI 1 Chatian Alstonia scholaris (L.) R. Br. LC 1131 4.11 4.50 3.18 11.79 2 Ptiraj Aphanamixis polystachya (Wall.) R.N. Parker. LC 1726 6.28 5.41 4.04 15.72 3 Kharjon Aporosa wallichii Hook.f. LC 2023 7.36 10.36 2.47 20.19 4 Borta Artocarpus lacucha L. LC 535 1.95 2.25 3.01 7.21 5 Chokakola Bauhinia malabarica Roxb. LC 475 1.73 2.70 2.23 6.66 6 Kanjal bhadi Bischoﬁa javanica Blume LC 476 1.73 1.35 4.46 7.54 7 Shimul Bombax ceiba L. LC 952 3.46 2.25 5.35 11.07 8 Sitki Bridelia tomentosa Bl. LC 1369 4.98 3.15 5.50 13.63 9 Bormala Callicarpa arborea Roxb. LC 1309 4.76 4.05 4.09 12.90 10 Gadila Careya arborea Roxb. NE 416 1.52 1.35 3.90 6.77 11 Sonalu Cassia ﬁstula L. LC 1607 5.84 5.41 3.76 15.01 12 Ojha Cryptocarya amygdalina Nees. NE but seems to be rare 1547 5.63 4.50 4.35 14.48 13 Hargoja Dillenia pentagyna Roxb. DD 535 1.95 1.80 3.76 7.51 14 Dumur Ficus hispida L. f. LC 654 2.38 2.25 3.68 8.31 15 Datoi Grewia nervosa (Lour.) Panigr. LC 2916 10.61 9.46 3.90 23.97 16 Haldu Haldina cordifolia (Roxb.) Ridsdale CD 1547 5.63 7.66 2.56 15.84 17 Jarul Lagerstroemia speciosa (L.) Pers. LC 416 1.52 1.80 2.93 6.24 18 Sinduri Mallotus philippensis (Lamk.) Muell.-Arg. CD 296 1.08 0.90 4.18 6.16 19 Gandhi gajari Miliusa velutina (Dunal) Hook. f. & Thom. NE but seems to be rare 298 1.08 1.35 2.79 5.22 20 Kadam Neolamarckia cadamba (Roxb.) Bosser LC 178 0.65 0.45 5.02 6.12 21 Amloki Phyllanthus emblica L. LC 1130 4.11 3.60 3.97 11.69 22 Rain tree Samanea saman (Jacq.) Merr. LC 460 1.73 1.35 4.46 7.54 23 Sal Shorea robusta Roxb. ex Gaertn. f. LC 2261 8.23 9.91 2.89 21.02 24 Sheora Streblus asper Lour. LC 178 0.65 0.90 2.51 4.06 25 Puti-jam Syzygium fruticosum DC. LC 1130 4.11 5.41 2.65 12.17 26 Bohera Terminalia bellirica (Gaertn.) Roxb. LC 833 3.03 3.15 3.35 9.53 27 Boroi Ziziphus mauritiana Lamk. LC 1071 3.90 2.70 5.02 11.62 CD: conservation dependent; DD: data deﬁcient; LC: least concern; NE: not evaluated. only (0.9%) seedling were found in (250–<300) cm range 33.2 (Figure 3). It indicates recent disturbances to the regen- 27.6 erating materials in the early stages of the regeneration 23.4 process. It may due to environmental stress, e.g., expo- sure to open sunlight, moisture deﬁcient, and/or anthro- 10 4.9 pogenic factors, e.g., grazing, ﬁrewood, and litter 0.9 collection in dry seasons. Moreover, intensive collection of sapling and pole by local community for fencing purpose resulted in reduced the percentage of upper height classes. Height (cm) classes Figure 3. Percentage distribution of the seedlings into diﬀer- ent height (cm) classes. Biological diversity indices of regeneration species Enrich ecosystem with maximum species diversity con- tree species (Table 5). However, the results indicated tained high value of Shannon–Wiener diversity index, that the regeneration recruitment of the study area was while a lower value indicates an ecosystem with less not adequate which may be due to eﬀect of abiotic diversity (Das, Alam, & Hossain, 2018). Species richness factors like, lower annual precipitation, increased graz- is one of the obvious criteria in recognizing the signiﬁ- ing, and encroachments. cance of an area for conservation of biodiversity (Khumbongmayum, Khan, & Tripathi, 2005). Diﬀerent biological diversity indices, i.e., species diver- Hierarchical cluster of the regenerating tree sity index (S ), Shannon–Winner index (H), Di species based on the dominance Shannon’s maximum diversity index (H ), species max The study revealed species of Durgapur hill forest are evenness index (E), Simpson’s diversity index (D), grouped into ﬁve hierarchical clusters based on their Margalef’s species richness index (R), and dominance dominance in the study area (Figure 4). The study of Simpson’sindex (D ) were studied for Durgapur hill revealed G. nervosa is the most dominant species and forest to depict natural regeneration status of recorded Percentage of seedlings 0-<50 50-<100 100-<150 150-<200 200-<250 250-<300 126 M. R. RAHMAN ET AL. Table 5. Diﬀerent biological diversity indices for regeneration families, but it is unsuitable to compare with their in Durgapur hill forest. ﬁndings because they have considered not only seed- lings but also treelets (2 cm ≤ DBH <10 cm). Besides, Sl. No. Description Total for DHF the regeneration composition is less than that is of 1 Species diversity index (S ) 0.06 Di 2 Margalef’s Species richness index (R) 4.24 Dudhpukuria-Dhopachari Wildlife Sanctuary (120 spe- 3 Shannon–Winner index (H) 4.27 cies), and Chunati Wildlife Sanctuary (105 species), 4 Shannon’s maximum diversity index (H ) 3.30 max (Hossain et al., 2013, 2004). Moreover, present study 5 Species evenness index (E) 1.30 exceeds the ﬁndings of Nur et al. (2016)where, they 6 Simpson’s diversity index (D) 0.15 ’ found 36% of the tree species (17 out of 47) are regen- 7 Dominance of Simpson’s index(D ) 0.85 erating in the study area, while majority of the tree species (64%) are not getting favorable conditions to also the member of ﬁrst cluster whereas S. robusta, regenerate. However, the conservation status of regen- and A. wallichii are the second most dominant spe- erated seedlings of current study is an agreement with cies as well as the member of second cluster. Other the ﬁndings of Chowdhury, Hossain et al. (2018)where species under this research form rest of the clusters they found most of the plants were belonged to the (Figure 5). Therefore, it is obvious that all the domi- Least Concerned (LC) category in Rangamati. nated tree species are of natural origin, while indi- The study revealed height range of regenerating cates the importance of the forest for native tree tree species in initial stage (0–<50 cm) is lower than diversity conservation. second stage (50–<100), and the scenario is similar to Misbahuzzaman and Alam (2006) who reported highest (617) seedlings in height class 1–<2 m from Discussion natural forest of Sitakunda, Chittagong. It may be due to high rate of mortality of seedling in dry soil Natural regeneration of ﬂora is critical to the sustainable condition or human interference. Euphorbiaceae, management of tropical forests (Medjibe, Poulsen, Moraceae, Mimosaceae, and Caesalpiniaceae were Clark, & Mbani, 2014). Therefore, understanding the found as dominant families probably because of plant regeneration processes and dynamics is vital to higher regeneration potential and seed dispersal planning and conveying the management activities capability of their species and favorable conditions (Mwavu & Witkowski, 2009; Puhlick, Laughlin, & for regenerating in the study area. Moore, 2012; Yang, Yan, & Liu, 2014). Present study According to Dhaulkhandi, Dobhal, Bhatt, and revealed the number of naturally regenerating species Kumar (2008), the density values of seedling are con- (27) and family (18) was lower than that of similar sidered as regeneration potential of the species. natural forests of Bangladesh. Hossain et al. (2004) Therefore, the study revealed G. nervosa (2916 seed- reported 64 naturally regenerating tree species from lings/ha), S. robusta (2261 seedlings/ha), A. wallichii natural forests of Chittagong (south) Forest Division. (2023 seedlings/ha), A. polystachya (1726 seedlings/ Motaleb and Hossain (2007) recorded 29 regenerating ha), C. ﬁstula (1607 seedlings/ha), and H. cordifolia tree species under 16 families from a semi-evergreen (1547 seedlings/ha) were the most dominant regener- forest of Chittagong (South) Forest Division. Rahman ated species because of their profuse seed production. et al. (2011) reported 55 regenerating tree species from However, those results are comparable with the ﬁndings Khadimnagar National Park and Tilagor Eco-Park. In of Nur et al. (2016) where they found Bursera serrata, addition, Deb et al. (2015) recorded the total regener- Toona ciliata, Stereospermum chelonoides, Ficus hispida, ated understory species richness was 61 belonging to 27 Figure 4. Agglomeration schedule coeﬃcient to determine the number of cluster for regenerated seedlings. GEOLOGY, ECOLOGY, AND LANDSCAPES 127 Figure 5. Hierarchical cluster of regenerated seedlings in Durgapur hill forest. Macaranga denticulata, Callicarpa macrophylla,and present ﬁndings. However, Nandi (2014) observed Syzygium fruticosum were dominating (higher numbers less species diversity with trees under DBH > 6 cm of seedlings/ha) among the regenerated tree species at category at the Sitakunda Botanical Garden and Eco- Shitalpur Forest Beat of Chittagong North Forest Park, Chittagong. Division. Cluster analysis of the current study showed G. The IVI values indicating overall dominance of the nervosa is the most dominant species in the study species in the study area (Das et al., 2018). Present area whereas, diﬀerent ecological studies also ﬁnd study showed G. nervosa had the maximum IVI similar trend of results among the ﬂoral groups (23.97) value followed by S. robusta (21.02). (Chowdhury, Islam et al., 2018; Erenso, Vegetati However, Chowdhury, Hossain, Hossain, and Khan Marya, & Wendawek, 2014; Flinn & Lechowicz, (2018) studied regeneration diversity of Rampahar 2008; Sajib & Uddin, 2016). In addition, the regen- Natural Forest Reserve in Rangamati South Forest eration of the forest is aﬀected not only by environ- Division, where they recorded the IVI values of mental factors but also by anthropogenic activities regenerating tree species was highest in P. serratum (De Cauwer, 2016; Kuma & Shibru, 2015). In (50.09) followed by B. ceiba (39.37). Durgpur hill forest (DHF), some of the anthropo- Diversity indices indicate vital information about genic activities seriously observed during data collec- the composition and current status of vegetation in a tion e.g., introduction of alien invasive species, study area (Chowdhury, Islam et al., 2018). The intentional ﬁre, fuel wood collection, extensive litter collection were the threats to regenerating ﬂora in the diversity indices, e.g. species diversity index (0.01), Species richness index (4.92), Shannon–Winner index study area. Present study is in agreement with the (3.62), Shannon’s maximum diversity index (3.69), ﬁndings of Deribe (2006) and Bharathi and Prasad (2015) where they revealed cutting of trees for char- Species evenness index (2.26), Simpson index (0.03) and Dominance of Simpson index (0.97) reported by coal production, constructing wood, fence, litter col- Rahman et al. (2011) from biodiversity conservation lection and mowing grasses for fodder and covering areas of Northeastern Bangladesh and is supported by roof of house were very obvious in community 128 M. R. RAHMAN ET AL. managed natural forest. Besides, Gunaga, Rajeshwari, ORCID and Vasudeva (2013) found greater protection leads Md. Arif Chowdhury http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0646- to better regeneration in kaan forests and state-man- 512X aged reserve forests in India. However, recent co- management initiatives and conservation program with the participation of local people at DHF area References seem to be promising for biodiversity conservation. Ahmed, Z. U., Begum, Z. N. T., Hassan, M. A., Khondker, M., Kabir, S. M. H., Ahmad, M., . . . Haque, E. U. (2008). Encyclopedia of ﬂora and fauna of Bangladesh. Dhaka: Conclusion Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. Barnes, B. V., Zak, D. R., Denton, S. R., & Spurr, S. H. Present study reveals that DHF possess moderate regen- (1997). Forest ecology (4th ed.). New York, NY: John eration potentials for many economically and ecologi- Wiley and Sons. cally important tree species. There are many Bharathi, S., & Prasad, A. G. D. (2015). Regeneration status of anthropogenic disturbances which may be lethargic tree composition in the sacred groves of Mercara, Central for the occurrence and establishment of natural regen- Western Ghats. European Journal of Experimental Biology, 5(10), 29–40. eration in this area. 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Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Copyright: © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
ISSN: 2474-9508
DOI: 10.1080/24749508.2019.1600911
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Abstract

GEOLOGY, ECOLOGY, AND LANDSCAPES 2020, VOL. 4, NO. 2, 121–130 INWASCON https://doi.org/10.1080/24749508.2019.1600911 RESEARCH ARTICLE Assessment of natural regeneration status: the case of Durgapur hill forest, Netrokona, Bangladesh a a b Md. Rayhanur Rahman , Md. Mizanur Rahman and Md. Arif Chowdhury a b Institute of Forestry and Environmental Sciences, University of Chittagong, Chittagong, Bangladesh; Institute of Water and Flood Management, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY Received 16 September 2018 Enumeration of regeneration status is an authentic tool to know the actual condition of forest Accepted 26 March 2019 ecosystem. The study was conducted to assess the regeneration status of Durgapur hill forest following stratiﬁed random sampling method (2 m × 2 m quadrate) from October 2017 to May KEYWORDS 2018. A total of 27 species under 18 families were recorded from the study area. The study Biodiversity indices; revealed maximum (37.78) family importance value (FIV) index was recorded for Euphorbiaceae conservation status; family followed by Moraceae (16.09). Importance value index (IVI) of Grewia nervosa was maximum importance value (FIV); (23.97 out of 300) followed by Shorea robusta (21.02), and Aporosa wallichii (20.19). Conservation importance value index (IVI); hierarchical cluster status showed highest (77.78%) plant species were in least concerned (LC) where only one species (Dillenia pentagyna) was found as data deﬁcient (DD) category. Seedlings of diﬀerent height classes showed maximum (33.2%) seedling were within the height range of 50–<100 cm. However, diﬀerent biological diversity indices, i.e., Shannon–Winner index (H) (4.27), species evenness index (E) (1.30), Simpson index (D) (0.15), and Margalef’s species richness index (4.24) were enumerated to know the complete diversity condition of the forest area. Hierarchical cluster of the recorded species also showed that Grewia nervosa is the most dominant species in that area. Introduction participatory approach (Chowdhury, 2006). Nevertheless, Bangladesh Forest Department still lacks Tropical forests are the most diverse and complex eco- the resources capabilities for sustainable management of systems on earth, and are also the most vulnerable and such forest area (Sayed, 2017). threatened habitats for species (Carson & Schnitzer, Limited tree regeneration creates a major threat to 2011; Deb, Roy, & Wahedunnabi, 2015;Sarker, Deb, forests which makes the opportunity to clearing for &Halim, 2011;Schmidt, 2007). In several tropical for- agricultural expansion (McDermott, Cashore, & ests, logging has been reported to have a negative Kanowski, 2010; Pröpper et al., 2010;Rudel, 2013). impact on the natural regeneration of commercial and However, the knowledge base of plant regeneration highly valuable rare species (Grogan et al., 2008; status helps in developing management options and Hawthorne, Sheil, Agyeman, Juam, & Marshall, 2012; setting priorities (Haider, Alam, & Mohiuddin, 2017; Schulze, Grogan, Uhl, Lentini, & Vidal, 2008). Zegeye, Teketay, & Kelbessa, 2011). Regeneration is Therefore, tropical forestry is confronted today with essential for conservation and maintenance of biodiver- the task of ﬁnding suitable strategies and techniques to sity in natural forests (Hossain, Rahman, Hoque, & enhance forest regeneration and restore abandoned Alam, 2004; Rahman, Khan, Roy, & Fardusi, 2011). lands (Deb et al., 2015; Montagnini & Jordan, 2005). Hence, forest natural regeneration is a natural biological The total area of Bangladesh’s hill forests is 6,70,000 ha process of forest resource restoration in ecosystem spreading over the region of the Chittagong, Cox’sBazar, dynamics (Wang, Li, Yu, & Chen, 2008)which involves Sylhet and Chittagong Hill Tracts where 44% of these asexual and sexual reproduction, dispersal and estab- managed by the Forest Department (Khan, Uddin, lishment in relation to environmental factors (Barnes, Uddin, Chowdhury, & Mukul, 2007). Countries forest Zak, Denton, & Spurr, 1997). During this process tree inventory indicated a growing stock of 23.93 million dominant plant communities developed and evolved, cubic meters of wood with rich faunal diversity conserve which has far-reaching impact on the structure of forest by the hill forests area (Rana et al., 2009;Roy, 2004). in the future (Han & Wang, 2002). Traditionally, the management approach of those forests Durgapur hill forest is one of the remnant places of Sal was clear felling followed by artiﬁcial regeneration of forest patches in Bangladesh where economically and valuable species. Nowadays, the forest management in ecologically valuable tree species are needs to be prior- diﬀerent hill forest Divisions is totally based on a itized for conservation and scientiﬁc management CONTACT Md. Arif Chowdhury arifchowdhury065@gmail.com Research Associate, Institute of Water and Flood Management, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. 122 M. R. RAHMAN ET AL. (Rahman, Rahman, Chowdhury, & Akhter, 2019). The square kilometers and consists of seven Unions. The forest has been cleared brutally within the last 30 to study area is located in the most northern part of 50 years as the demand for energy, construction, wood, Durgapur, having the coordinates of 25°7′30″ Nand food,fodderhas increasedasaresult of theincreasein 90°41′18″ E (Wiki, 2018)(Figure 1). Topographically, both human and livestock. The main causes of deforesta- the study area is characterized by its large hillocks, tion and forest degradation in this area were tree cutting known as “tilla” with irregular plain land. The soil for fuelwood, and construction materials production for pH ﬂuctuates from 6 to 6.5 (Rashid, 1991). The highest sale especially. A number of studies are available focused temperature reaches to 30°C during May and coldest on natural regeneration status in diﬀerent natural forests to around 10°C during January where the annual rain- of Bangladesh provide potential information for many fall in this area is 2712 mm (CLIMATE-DATA.ORG, nativetreespecies (Haideretal., 2017; Hossain, Hossain, 2019). However, the temperature here averages 25.2°C Salam, & Rahman, 2013;Hossain,Azad, &Alam, 1999; and most of the precipitation here falls in June, aver- Hossain & Hossain, 2014; Motaleb & Hossain, 2007; aging 581 mm (Figure 2). Miah, Udin, & Bhuiyan, 1999;Nur,Nandi, Jashimuddin, & Hossain, 2016; Rahman, Rahman, Data collection Chowdhury, & Akhter, 2019;Rahmanetal., 2011)and diversity in forest (Chowdhury, Islam, Haﬁz, & Islam, The study area was visited prior to the ﬁeldwork in 2018;Rahman etal., 2019), but research work on regen- 2017, to have a general idea of the site, topography, eration aspect of forest is not available where Durgapur accessibility, and species composition. A complete hill forest lacks information regarding natural regenera- stratiﬁed random quadrat method was adapted for tion, stocking, and conservation issues. This study will this study. Where, a total of 42 sample plots enrich the knowledge of natural regeneration and quan- (2 m × 2 m) were laid within the study area for the titative distribution of plant species in the case of hill assessment of regeneration. Regenerated trees having forest which may be useful in providing guidelines for ≤2 cm diameter at breast height (DBH) was consid- future management of forest. ered as seedlings. Seedlings of all species in each plot were identiﬁed and recorded by local and scientiﬁc names. The common tree species were identiﬁed Materials and methods directly in the ﬁeld, while the fertile samples of the unknown tree species were collected for the prepara- Study site tion of herbarium specimens. Collected plant speci- Durgapur is surrounded by Meghalaya state of India mens were dried in the sun following standard on the north, Purbadhala and Netrokona Sadar on the scientiﬁc method. Consultation was done with pub- south, Kalmakanda on the east, and Dhobaura sub- lished journals and reference book like (Prain, 1903; district on the west. The study was conducted during Uddin, Hassan, Rahman, & Areﬁn, 2012) and October 2017 to May 2018. Durgapur Upazila (small Encyclopedia of Flora and Fauna of Bangladesh city) of Netrokona District, having an area of 293.42 (Ahmed et al., 2008) to determine the unknown Figure 1. Study area map of Durgapur, Netrokona District. GEOLOGY, ECOLOGY, AND LANDSCAPES 123 30 700 0 0 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Month Figure 2. Mean annual precipitation and temperature at Durgapur. species. Taxonomist from the Institute of Forestry seedlings, hierarchical cluster analysis was done and Environmental Sciences, University of using computer software package SPSS (version 23). Chittagong (IFESCU) and the Bangladesh Forest Species diversity index (S ) starts from 1 when Di Research Institute (BFRI) also helped for species there is only one individuals of one species, the value identiﬁcation. reach to maximum with the increase of species num- ber (Odum, 1971). Margalef’sindex (R)ishigh in communities that include a greater number of species Analysis of ﬁeld data and in which the number of individuals of each species decreases relatively slowly on passing from more abun- For many years, species richness, various diversity dant to less abundant ones (Margalef, 1958). indices, species density, stem density, species impor- Shannon–Wiener diversity index value is maximum tance value index are used to assess population when the number of individuals of all species is dynamics and their diversity (Gimaret-Carpentier, equal; value is zero if there is only one species Pélissier, Pascal, & Houllier, 1998). The ﬁeld data (Michael, 1984). With Simpson’s diversity index (D), were compiled and analyzed for family relative den- 0 represents inﬁnite diversity and 1, no diversity. sity (FD%), family relative diversity (Fr%), family Simpson’s diversity index is neither intuitive nor logi- importance value (FIV), density, relative density cal, so get over the problem, d is often subtracted from (RD%), frequency, relative frequency (RF%), abun- 1 to give Dominance of Simpson’s index (D´). The dance, relative abundance (RA%), and importance value of this index also ranges between 0 and almost 1, value index (IVI). The equations (1–10) used for but now, the greater the value, the greater the sample calculating phytosociological characters are listed in diversity (Magurran, 1988). With increase the value, Table 1. However, the equations (1–7) used for cal- the greater the diversity. The maximum value is the culating ﬂoral diversity indices are listed in Table 2. number of species (or other category being used) in Conservation status of regenerating trees of Durgapur the sample. Species Evenness index (E) also known as was assessed following the Encyclopedia of Flora and Shannon’s equitable index, assumes a value between 0 Fauna of Bangladesh (Ahmed et al., 2008). In addi- and 1 with 1 being complete evenness (Pielou, 1966). tion, to determine the dominance of regenerating Table 1. The list of equations used for calculating phytosociological characters of the vegetation. Phytosociological attributes Formula Equation No References Family relative density (Fd) 1 (Mori, Boom, & de Carvalino, 1983) Fd ¼ 100 Ti Family relative diversity (Fr) 2 (Rahman et al., 2011) Fr ¼ 100 Ts Family importance value (FIV) FIV ¼ Fd þ Fr 3 (Rahman et al., 2011) Density (D) D ¼ 4 (Shukla, 2000) Relative density (RD) RD ¼ 100 5 (Dallmeier, Kabel, & Rice, 1992; Misra, 1968) Frequency (F) F ¼ 6 (Shukla, 2000) Fi Relative frequency (RF) P 7 (Dallmeier et al., 1992; Misra, 1968) RF ¼ s ðÞ Fi i¼1 Abundance (A) A ¼ 8 (Shukla, 2000) Ai Relative abundance (RA) P 9 (Misra, 1968) RA ¼ s ðÞ Ai i¼1 Importance value index (IVI) IVI ¼RD þ RF þ RA 10 (Misra, 1968; Shukla, 2000) N : number of individual in a family; T : total number of individuals; N : number of species in a family; T : total number of species, a: total number of f i s s individuals of a species in all the quadrats; b: total number of quadrats studied; n: total number of individuals of the species; N: total number of individuals of all the species; c: total number of quadrats in which the species occurs; b: total number of quadrats studied; Fi: frequency of one species; Ai: abundance of one species Temperature C Precipitation (mm) 124 M. R. RAHMAN ET AL. Table 2. The list of equations used for calculating biodiversity indices of the vegetation. Biodiversity indices Formula Equation No. References Species diversity index (S)S ¼ S=N 1 (Odum, 1971) Di Di Shannon-Wiener’s diversity index (H) 2 (Michael, 1984) H¼ P ln P i i i¼1 Shannon’s maximum diversity index (H)H ¼ LnðÞ S 3 (Kent, 2011) max max ðÞ S1 Margalef’s species richness index (R) 4 (Margalef, 1958) R ¼ LNðÞ N Simpson’s diversity index (D) 5 (Magurran, 1988) D ¼¼ P i¼1 i Dominance of Simpson’s index (D´) D ¼ 1 D 6 (Magurran, 1988) Species (Pielou’s) evenness index (E) E ¼ 7 (Pielou, 1966) LnðÞ S th H: Shannon–Wiener’s diversity index; N: total number of individuals of all the species; Pi: number of individuals of i species/total number of individuals in the samples; S: total number of species; n is the number of individuals of each species. Results on the basis of the conservation status, density, relative density, relative frequency, relative abun- Regeneration status of tree species observed in dance and IVI. The regeneration study shows that Durgapur hill forest the number of regenerating seedlings was found A total of 462 seedlings of 27 species under 18 families were higher for G. nervosa (2916 seedlings/ha) followed recorded from DHF where maximum ﬁve species was by S. robusta (2261 seedlings/ha), and A. wallichii found for Euphorbiaceae family followed by Moraceae (2023 seedlings/ha) (Table 4). Maximum relative (3) (Table 3). Highest (19.26%) family relative density density (10.61%) was recorded for G. nervosa fol- was represented by Euphorbiaceae followed by Tiliaceae lowed by S. robusta (8.23%), A. wallichii (7.36%), (10.61%) whereas maximum (18.52%) family relative den- and A. polystachya (6.28%). Relative frequency of A. sity index found for Euphorbiaceae followed by Moraceae wallichii has the highest value (10.36%) followed by (11.11%). Similar trends of result showed for family impor- S. robusta (9.91%), G. nervosa (9.46%), and H. cor- tance value (FIV) index where Euphor difolia (7.66%). However, the highest (5.50%) rela- biaceae found maximum (37.78) followed by Moraceae tive abundance was calculated for B. tomentosa (16.09), Mimosaceae (15.42), and Caesalpiniaceae (14.98) followed by B. ceiba (5.35%), and Z. mauritiana (Table 3). (5.02%). G. nervosa had the maximum IVI (23.97) followed by S. robusta (21.02), A. wallichii (20.19), H. cordifolia (15.84), and A. polystachya (15.72) Quantitative characters of naturally regenerating (Table 4). tree species of Durgapur hill forest In addition, all the recorded plants were found to be represented by ﬁve conservation categories, viz. The quantitative structure of naturally regenerating conservation dependent (CD), data deﬁcient (DD), tree species in the Durgapur hill forest was studied least concern (LC), not evaluated (NE), not evaluated but seems to be rare (NE but rare). A total of 77.78% Table 3. Family composition, number of species, number of individuals under each family, family relative density (FRD), plant species (21 species out of 27) were found as LC family relative diversity (FRDI), and family importance value which represents maximum plant species among all (FIV) index of the regenerating trees in Durgapur hill forest. the categories. Only one species (D. pentagyna) con- Sl No. of Species FRD FRDI servation status was found in DD category. Moreover, No. Family seedling No. (%) (%) FIV NE and NE but rare plant species were represented 1 Annonaceae 5 1 1.08 3.70 4.79 by 3.7% and 7%, respectively. Eventually, there were 2 Apocynaceae 19 1 4.11 3.70 7.82 not a single species found which may fall either 3 Bombacaceae 16 1 3.46 3.70 7.17 vulnerable or rare category. 4 Caesalpiniaceae 35 2 7.58 7.41 14.98 5 Combretaceae 14 1 3.03 3.70 6.73 6 Dilleniaceae 9 1 1.95 3.70 5.65 7 Dipterocarpaceae 38 1 8.23 3.70 11.93 Distribution of seedlings into diﬀerent height 8 Euphorbiaceae 89 5 19.26 18.52 37.78 classes 9 Lauraceae 26 1 5.63 3.70 9.33 10 Lecythidaceae 7 1 1.52 3.70 5.22 Stratiﬁcation of regenerated species considering their 11 Lythraceae 7 1 1.52 3.70 5.22 height indicates the extent of ecological functioning and 12 Mimosaceae 37 2 8.01 7.41 15.42 diversity in the study area. The percentage distribution of 13 Moraceae 23 3 4.98 11.11 16.09 all the recorded seedlings of all species is shown in 14 Myrtaceae 19 1 4.11 3.70 7.82 six height (cm) classes, viz. 0–<50 cm, 50–<100 cm, 15 Rhamnaceae 18 1 3.90 3.70 7.60 100–<150 cm, 150–<200 cm, 200–<250 cm, 250– 16 Rubiaceae 29 2 6.28 7.41 13.68 17 Tiliaceae 49 1 10.61 3.70 14.31 <300 cm. The study revealed maximum (33.2%) seed- 18 Verbenaceae 22 1 4.76 3.70 8.47 lings were within a height range of 50–<100 cm whereas GEOLOGY, ECOLOGY, AND LANDSCAPES 125 Table 4. Conservation status, seedlings per hectare, relative density (RD), relative frequency (RF), relative abundance (RA), importance value index (IVI), and conservation status of the regenerating tree species of the Durgapur hill forest. Conservation SL No. Local name Scientiﬁc name status Seedling/ha RD (%) RF (%) RA (%) IVI 1 Chatian Alstonia scholaris (L.) R. Br. LC 1131 4.11 4.50 3.18 11.79 2 Ptiraj Aphanamixis polystachya (Wall.) R.N. Parker. LC 1726 6.28 5.41 4.04 15.72 3 Kharjon Aporosa wallichii Hook.f. LC 2023 7.36 10.36 2.47 20.19 4 Borta Artocarpus lacucha L. LC 535 1.95 2.25 3.01 7.21 5 Chokakola Bauhinia malabarica Roxb. LC 475 1.73 2.70 2.23 6.66 6 Kanjal bhadi Bischoﬁa javanica Blume LC 476 1.73 1.35 4.46 7.54 7 Shimul Bombax ceiba L. LC 952 3.46 2.25 5.35 11.07 8 Sitki Bridelia tomentosa Bl. LC 1369 4.98 3.15 5.50 13.63 9 Bormala Callicarpa arborea Roxb. LC 1309 4.76 4.05 4.09 12.90 10 Gadila Careya arborea Roxb. NE 416 1.52 1.35 3.90 6.77 11 Sonalu Cassia ﬁstula L. LC 1607 5.84 5.41 3.76 15.01 12 Ojha Cryptocarya amygdalina Nees. NE but seems to be rare 1547 5.63 4.50 4.35 14.48 13 Hargoja Dillenia pentagyna Roxb. DD 535 1.95 1.80 3.76 7.51 14 Dumur Ficus hispida L. f. LC 654 2.38 2.25 3.68 8.31 15 Datoi Grewia nervosa (Lour.) Panigr. LC 2916 10.61 9.46 3.90 23.97 16 Haldu Haldina cordifolia (Roxb.) Ridsdale CD 1547 5.63 7.66 2.56 15.84 17 Jarul Lagerstroemia speciosa (L.) Pers. LC 416 1.52 1.80 2.93 6.24 18 Sinduri Mallotus philippensis (Lamk.) Muell.-Arg. CD 296 1.08 0.90 4.18 6.16 19 Gandhi gajari Miliusa velutina (Dunal) Hook. f. & Thom. NE but seems to be rare 298 1.08 1.35 2.79 5.22 20 Kadam Neolamarckia cadamba (Roxb.) Bosser LC 178 0.65 0.45 5.02 6.12 21 Amloki Phyllanthus emblica L. LC 1130 4.11 3.60 3.97 11.69 22 Rain tree Samanea saman (Jacq.) Merr. LC 460 1.73 1.35 4.46 7.54 23 Sal Shorea robusta Roxb. ex Gaertn. f. LC 2261 8.23 9.91 2.89 21.02 24 Sheora Streblus asper Lour. LC 178 0.65 0.90 2.51 4.06 25 Puti-jam Syzygium fruticosum DC. LC 1130 4.11 5.41 2.65 12.17 26 Bohera Terminalia bellirica (Gaertn.) Roxb. LC 833 3.03 3.15 3.35 9.53 27 Boroi Ziziphus mauritiana Lamk. LC 1071 3.90 2.70 5.02 11.62 CD: conservation dependent; DD: data deﬁcient; LC: least concern; NE: not evaluated. only (0.9%) seedling were found in (250–<300) cm range 33.2 (Figure 3). It indicates recent disturbances to the regen- 27.6 erating materials in the early stages of the regeneration 23.4 process. It may due to environmental stress, e.g., expo- sure to open sunlight, moisture deﬁcient, and/or anthro- 10 4.9 pogenic factors, e.g., grazing, ﬁrewood, and litter 0.9 collection in dry seasons. Moreover, intensive collection of sapling and pole by local community for fencing purpose resulted in reduced the percentage of upper height classes. Height (cm) classes Figure 3. Percentage distribution of the seedlings into diﬀer- ent height (cm) classes. Biological diversity indices of regeneration species Enrich ecosystem with maximum species diversity con- tree species (Table 5). However, the results indicated tained high value of Shannon–Wiener diversity index, that the regeneration recruitment of the study area was while a lower value indicates an ecosystem with less not adequate which may be due to eﬀect of abiotic diversity (Das, Alam, & Hossain, 2018). Species richness factors like, lower annual precipitation, increased graz- is one of the obvious criteria in recognizing the signiﬁ- ing, and encroachments. cance of an area for conservation of biodiversity (Khumbongmayum, Khan, & Tripathi, 2005). Diﬀerent biological diversity indices, i.e., species diver- Hierarchical cluster of the regenerating tree sity index (S ), Shannon–Winner index (H), Di species based on the dominance Shannon’s maximum diversity index (H ), species max The study revealed species of Durgapur hill forest are evenness index (E), Simpson’s diversity index (D), grouped into ﬁve hierarchical clusters based on their Margalef’s species richness index (R), and dominance dominance in the study area (Figure 4). The study of Simpson’sindex (D ) were studied for Durgapur hill revealed G. nervosa is the most dominant species and forest to depict natural regeneration status of recorded Percentage of seedlings 0-<50 50-<100 100-<150 150-<200 200-<250 250-<300 126 M. R. RAHMAN ET AL. Table 5. Diﬀerent biological diversity indices for regeneration families, but it is unsuitable to compare with their in Durgapur hill forest. ﬁndings because they have considered not only seed- lings but also treelets (2 cm ≤ DBH <10 cm). Besides, Sl. No. Description Total for DHF the regeneration composition is less than that is of 1 Species diversity index (S ) 0.06 Di 2 Margalef’s Species richness index (R) 4.24 Dudhpukuria-Dhopachari Wildlife Sanctuary (120 spe- 3 Shannon–Winner index (H) 4.27 cies), and Chunati Wildlife Sanctuary (105 species), 4 Shannon’s maximum diversity index (H ) 3.30 max (Hossain et al., 2013, 2004). Moreover, present study 5 Species evenness index (E) 1.30 exceeds the ﬁndings of Nur et al. (2016)where, they 6 Simpson’s diversity index (D) 0.15 ’ found 36% of the tree species (17 out of 47) are regen- 7 Dominance of Simpson’s index(D ) 0.85 erating in the study area, while majority of the tree species (64%) are not getting favorable conditions to also the member of ﬁrst cluster whereas S. robusta, regenerate. However, the conservation status of regen- and A. wallichii are the second most dominant spe- erated seedlings of current study is an agreement with cies as well as the member of second cluster. Other the ﬁndings of Chowdhury, Hossain et al. (2018)where species under this research form rest of the clusters they found most of the plants were belonged to the (Figure 5). Therefore, it is obvious that all the domi- Least Concerned (LC) category in Rangamati. nated tree species are of natural origin, while indi- The study revealed height range of regenerating cates the importance of the forest for native tree tree species in initial stage (0–<50 cm) is lower than diversity conservation. second stage (50–<100), and the scenario is similar to Misbahuzzaman and Alam (2006) who reported highest (617) seedlings in height class 1–<2 m from Discussion natural forest of Sitakunda, Chittagong. It may be due to high rate of mortality of seedling in dry soil Natural regeneration of ﬂora is critical to the sustainable condition or human interference. Euphorbiaceae, management of tropical forests (Medjibe, Poulsen, Moraceae, Mimosaceae, and Caesalpiniaceae were Clark, & Mbani, 2014). Therefore, understanding the found as dominant families probably because of plant regeneration processes and dynamics is vital to higher regeneration potential and seed dispersal planning and conveying the management activities capability of their species and favorable conditions (Mwavu & Witkowski, 2009; Puhlick, Laughlin, & for regenerating in the study area. Moore, 2012; Yang, Yan, & Liu, 2014). Present study According to Dhaulkhandi, Dobhal, Bhatt, and revealed the number of naturally regenerating species Kumar (2008), the density values of seedling are con- (27) and family (18) was lower than that of similar sidered as regeneration potential of the species. natural forests of Bangladesh. Hossain et al. (2004) Therefore, the study revealed G. nervosa (2916 seed- reported 64 naturally regenerating tree species from lings/ha), S. robusta (2261 seedlings/ha), A. wallichii natural forests of Chittagong (south) Forest Division. (2023 seedlings/ha), A. polystachya (1726 seedlings/ Motaleb and Hossain (2007) recorded 29 regenerating ha), C. ﬁstula (1607 seedlings/ha), and H. cordifolia tree species under 16 families from a semi-evergreen (1547 seedlings/ha) were the most dominant regener- forest of Chittagong (South) Forest Division. Rahman ated species because of their profuse seed production. et al. (2011) reported 55 regenerating tree species from However, those results are comparable with the ﬁndings Khadimnagar National Park and Tilagor Eco-Park. In of Nur et al. (2016) where they found Bursera serrata, addition, Deb et al. (2015) recorded the total regener- Toona ciliata, Stereospermum chelonoides, Ficus hispida, ated understory species richness was 61 belonging to 27 Figure 4. Agglomeration schedule coeﬃcient to determine the number of cluster for regenerated seedlings. GEOLOGY, ECOLOGY, AND LANDSCAPES 127 Figure 5. Hierarchical cluster of regenerated seedlings in Durgapur hill forest. Macaranga denticulata, Callicarpa macrophylla,and present ﬁndings. However, Nandi (2014) observed Syzygium fruticosum were dominating (higher numbers less species diversity with trees under DBH > 6 cm of seedlings/ha) among the regenerated tree species at category at the Sitakunda Botanical Garden and Eco- Shitalpur Forest Beat of Chittagong North Forest Park, Chittagong. Division. Cluster analysis of the current study showed G. The IVI values indicating overall dominance of the nervosa is the most dominant species in the study species in the study area (Das et al., 2018). Present area whereas, diﬀerent ecological studies also ﬁnd study showed G. nervosa had the maximum IVI similar trend of results among the ﬂoral groups (23.97) value followed by S. robusta (21.02). (Chowdhury, Islam et al., 2018; Erenso, Vegetati However, Chowdhury, Hossain, Hossain, and Khan Marya, & Wendawek, 2014; Flinn & Lechowicz, (2018) studied regeneration diversity of Rampahar 2008; Sajib & Uddin, 2016). In addition, the regen- Natural Forest Reserve in Rangamati South Forest eration of the forest is aﬀected not only by environ- Division, where they recorded the IVI values of mental factors but also by anthropogenic activities regenerating tree species was highest in P. serratum (De Cauwer, 2016; Kuma & Shibru, 2015). In (50.09) followed by B. ceiba (39.37). Durgpur hill forest (DHF), some of the anthropo- Diversity indices indicate vital information about genic activities seriously observed during data collec- the composition and current status of vegetation in a tion e.g., introduction of alien invasive species, study area (Chowdhury, Islam et al., 2018). The intentional ﬁre, fuel wood collection, extensive litter collection were the threats to regenerating ﬂora in the diversity indices, e.g. species diversity index (0.01), Species richness index (4.92), Shannon–Winner index study area. Present study is in agreement with the (3.62), Shannon’s maximum diversity index (3.69), ﬁndings of Deribe (2006) and Bharathi and Prasad (2015) where they revealed cutting of trees for char- Species evenness index (2.26), Simpson index (0.03) and Dominance of Simpson index (0.97) reported by coal production, constructing wood, fence, litter col- Rahman et al. (2011) from biodiversity conservation lection and mowing grasses for fodder and covering areas of Northeastern Bangladesh and is supported by roof of house were very obvious in community 128 M. R. RAHMAN ET AL. managed natural forest. Besides, Gunaga, Rajeshwari, ORCID and Vasudeva (2013) found greater protection leads Md. Arif Chowdhury http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0646- to better regeneration in kaan forests and state-man- 512X aged reserve forests in India. 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Retrieved from Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 368(1625), 20120405. https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki.OP_RETURN Sajib, N. H., & Uddin, S. B. (2016). Vascular plant divrsity and Yang, X., Yan, D., & Liu, C. (2014). Natural regeneration of their distribution pattern in Sandwip Island, Chittagong, trees in three types of aﬀorested stands in the Taihang Bangladesh. Journal of Biodiversity Management & mountains, China. PloS one, 9(9), e108744. Forestry, 5(2). doi:10.4172/2327-4417.1000159 Zegeye, H., Teketay, D., & Kelbessa, E. (2011). Diversity Sarker, S. K., Deb, J. C., & Halim, M. A. (2011). A diagnosis and regeneration status of woody species in Tara Gedam of existing logging bans in Bangladesh. International and Abebaye forests, northwestern Ethiopia. Journal of Forestry Review, 13(4), 461–475. Forestry Research, 22(3), 315.

Journal

Geology Ecology and Landscapes – Taylor & Francis

Published: Apr 2, 2020

Keywords: Biodiversity indices; conservation status; family importance value (FIV); importance value index (IVI); hierarchical cluster

References

Regeneration status of tree composition in the sacred groves of Mercara, Central Western Ghats
Native tree species diversity of Rampahar natural forest reserve in Rangamati South forest division, Bangladesh
Diversity of trees in a community managed forest: The case of Komolchori VCF, Khagrachari, Bangladesh
Diversity and structural composition of species in dipterocarp forests: A study from Fasiakhali wildlife sanctuary, Bangladesh
Structure and composition of understory treelets and overstory trees in a protected area of Bangladesh
Humbo community-managed natural regeneration project final report
Community structure and regeneration potential of natural forest site in Gangotri, India
Floristic composition, diversityand on structure of woody plant communities in bodadry evergreen montane forest, West Showa, Ethiopia
Plant species diversity and composition of wetlands within an upland forest
Sampling strategies for the assessment of tree species diversity
What loggers leave behind: Impacts on big-leaf mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla) commercial populations and potential for post-logging recovery in the Brazilian Amazon
Tree diversity and disturbance of kaan forests: Relics of a community protected climax vegetation in the Central Western Ghats
Regeneration potentials of native tree species in three natural forests of Sylhet, Bangladesh
Spatial heterogeneity and forest regeneration
Logging scars in Ghanaian high forest: Towards improved models for sustainable production
Composition and diversity of tree species in dudhpukuria-dhopachori wildlife sanctuary of Chittagong (South) forest division, Bangladesh
Comparative regeneration status in a natural forest and enrichment plantations of Chittagong (south) forest division, Bangladesh
Distribution and status of forests in the tropics: Bangladesh perspective
Sacred groves of Manipur, northeast India: Biodiversity value, status and strategies for their conservation
Floristic composition, vegetation structure, and regeneration status of woody plant species of oda forest of humbo carbon project, Wolaita, Ethiopia
Information theory in ecology
Natural regeneration of selected timber species in the R epublic of C ongo
Study on the natural rgeneration of Pitraj (Aphanamixis polystachya Wall. and Parker) in the plantation at Chittagong university campus
Ecological restoration of rainforest through aided natural regeneration in the denuded hills of Sitakunda, Chittagong, Bangladesh
Ecological importance of Myrtaceae in an eastern Brazilian wet forest
Studies on natural regeneration of a semi-evergreen forest of Chittagong (South) forest division. Bangladesh
Seedling regeneration, environment and management in a semi‐deciduous African tropical rain forest
Regeneration and tree species diversity of Sitakund botanical garden and Eco-park, Chittagong, Bangladesh
Tree species composition and regeneration status of Shitalpur forest beat under Chittagong North forest division, Bangladesh
Species-diversity and pattern-diversity in the study of ecological succession
Factors influencing ponderosa pine regeneration in the southwestern USA
Tree species diversity and structural composition: The case of Durgapur hill forest, Netrokona, Bangladesh
Assessment of natural regeneration status and diversity of tree species in the biodiversity conservation areas of Northeastern Bangladesh
Current status and potentiality of forest resources in a proposed biodiversity conservation area of Bangladesh
The national determinants of deforestation in sub-Saharan Africa
Vascular plant divrsity and their distribution pattern in Sandwip Island, Chittagong, Bangladesh
A diagnosis of existing logging bans in Bangladesh
Sustainable forest resource management
Evaluating ipê (Tabebuia, Bignoniaceae) logging in Amazonia: Sustainable management or catalyst for forest degradation?
Ethno-medico-botanical study in Lawachara National park, Bangladesh
Barrier effect of litter layer on natural regeneration of forests: A review
OP_RETURN [ONLINE]
Natural regeneration of trees in three types of afforested stands in the Taihang mountains, China
Diversity and regeneration status of woody species in Tara Gedam and Abebaye forests, northwestern Ethiopia

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Assessment of natural regeneration status: the case of Durgapur hill forest, Netrokona, Bangladesh

Assessment of natural regeneration status: the case of Durgapur hill forest, Netrokona, Bangladesh

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Assessment of natural regeneration status: the case of Durgapur hill forest, Netrokona, Bangladesh

Assessment of natural regeneration status: the case of Durgapur hill forest, Netrokona, Bangladesh

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