Diversity of trees in a community managed forest: the case of Komolchori VCF, Khagrachari, Bangladesh

ABSTRACT Natural forest in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHTs) of Bangladesh is degrading due to various reasons. Village common forest (VCF) in CHTs is one of the successful forest management schemes without government intervention. This research was conducted in the Komolchori VCF, Khagrachari, Bangladesh to delineate its tree diversity status . A total of 921 individuals belonging to 55 species were found from 25 randomly studied plots. The highest basal area and relative dominance were recorded for Terminalia bellirica which were 1.23 m2/ha and 6.07%, respectively, whereas the lowest basal area and relative dominance were 0.47 m2/ha and 2.30%, respectively, for Protium serratum. In addition, the highest relative density, relative frequency, and importance value index was occupied by Aglaia cucullata which were 20.41%, 7.54%, and 29.65%, respectively. Aglaia cucullata and Schima wallichii were found as the most dominant species based on hierarchical cluster membership. The Shannon’s index, Simpson’s index, species diversity index, Margalef’s (richness) index, species evenness index and dominance of Simpson index for the Komolchori VCF were found as 3.22, 0.07, 66.03, 7.91, 0.47, and 0.93, respectively. This study will progress the further study to ensure proper action on biodiversity conservation in the CHTs of Bangladesh