Impact of fire on the natural regeneration – A case study in Rajiv Gandhi National Park

A study was carried out to assess the effect of forest fire on the natural regeneration of vegetation in five forest ranges of Rajiv Gandhi National Park (RGNP) in Coorg District, Karnataka. Regeneration was assessed in the fire affected area at two spells, after 2 - 3 months (1^st spell) and 10 - 12 (2^nd spell) months. Simple random sampling technique with a sampling intensity of 10 quadrates per range was used to collect the data. The results obtained from the 1^st spell indicated good regeneration and sprouting of different species in all five ranges. Unburnt areas had poor regeneration sprouting suggesting that low intensity ground fire stimulate regeneration due to churning of seed materials on the forest floor and release of soil nutrients. The analysis of the results collected from the class wise analysis of regeneration carried out after 10 - 12 months (2^nd spell) indicated wide variation among recruits from class I to class III. Though the fire was helpful in stimulating regeneration of desirable species at a later stage, the ‘species diversity index’ has indicated that some unwanted/less important species such as Lantana, Randia, Choromolaena, Ziziphus and some invading species dominated in burnt areas