Status of Debregeasia salicifolia (Roxb. ex D. Don) Rendle in the degraded land of Kumaun Himalaya, Uttarakhand

Forest structure and composition is the fundamental issue in ecology which are strongly correlated with environmental factors, such as climate and topography, microclimate aspects and altitude. Structural and functional analysis of plants provides valuable information for understanding relationship between plant form, vegetation structure and environment. The present investigation was aimed to carryout population structure and regeneration pattern of Debregeasia salicifolia (Roxb. ex D. Don) Rendle stand. Saplings has maximum density 17840 (ind/ha) followed by trees 980 (ind/ha). The maximum relative density (57.690) was recorded for saplings followed by trees (37.83) and seedlings (4.47). The maximum diversity index (H’) was 0.179 for saplings and minimum for (0.017) trees. The maximum concentration of dominance was recorded for saplings (0.360) and minimum was recorded for seedling (0.004). The study area severely affected by anthropogenic disturbances as the conversion of saplings into trees was very poor as well as the seedling survival was at its lowest stage.