Community structure, regeneration potential and future dynamics of natural forest site in part of Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, Uttarakhand, India

Realizing the overarching values of forests and considering their depletion at unprecedented rate, conservation of forests has emerged as the prime objective across the globe. Forest vegetation of Pindari-Sunderdhunga-Kafni (PSK), a protected area, part of Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve in west Himalaya was analyzed for structure, composition and development of future compositional patterns. Forest vegetation surveys were carried out enumerating ten 10 x 10 m quadrat for tree species in each of 30 forest stand complemented by shrub (five 2 x 2 m quadrat) and herb (ten 1 x 1 m quadrat) surveys within each stand. Floristic richness reveals 332 plant species from 11 representative forest communities. Broadly, the demographic profiles exhibited progressive structures suggesting long term persistence of the communities/species. Differences in regeneration behavior of various species are indicative of future structure and dynamics of the communities. Data sets in the present study established target site in NDBR as potential sites for long-term ecological monitoring under various change scenarios.    Key words: Natural forests, regeneration pattern, population structure, compositional changes.