ABSTRACT

Buchanania lanzan Spreng. commonly known as chironji/nuruklu belongs to family Anacardiaceae, producing commercial edible fruits, which is popularly known for its costly and high priced kernels. Large scale destruction of forests leads to poor growth and extinction of species in the future. Hence, for proper management, assessment of population, structure and regeneration status is very essential. The present study was conducted in natural populations of different forest types of Banavasi forest range of Sirsi Division in Uttara Kannada district. In this study, linear belt transacts (20 m × 1500 m) were laid out and within transact, quadrate of size 20 × 20 m was laid for every 100 m distance for assessment and regeneration status of Buchanania lanzan. A total of 49 species of trees were recorded in Banavasi forest range. Among the different species, Buchanania lanzan were recorded with 78 individuals IVI value recorded for Buchanania lanzan was 43.16 and more trees in dry deciduous forest type (41), followed by moist deciduous forest (24). Among different girth classes, maximum number of trees recorded in 61-70 cm girth class (15) and least in 30-40 cm (2). The study area recorded high species diversity with 3.323 Shannon-Wiener index (H) value, 0.054 Simpson’s index (D) with evenness index of 0.854. The regeneration layer of Buchanania lanzan showed less IVI with 16.277; whereas the Shannon-Weiner index and Simpson index value of regenerating individuals is 3.366 and 0.046 respectively, indicating more floristic diversity with evenness index of 0.919. A total of 100 key informants were interviewed and documented six utilization patterns. Fruits and seeds were mainly used for preparation of juice, squash, sweets, payasa, etc. Fruits, seeds and bark were used for treatment of dysentery, cough, asthma, stomach and blood diseases. Wood is used for furniture, carts, tables and other miscellaneous items.