Major nutrient dynamics of two plant species at matha protected forest of Purulia, West Bengal, India

The study was carried out in a tropical dry deciduous forest known as Matha Protected forest (MPF) of Purulia district, West Bengal, India which is fragmented into two parts namely Plot A and Plot B. The area is covered mainly with sal (Shorea robusta) and sidha (Lagerstroemia parviflora). The objective of the present study is to determine the distribution of nutrient content in green leaf, leaf litter and soil to improve the understanding of flow of nutrients and their losses within the ecosystem that will give information for effective forest management strategies. From analysis it is revealed that P use efficiency is enhanced than Nand K for Shorea robusta, while K use efficiency is higher than P and N in Lagerstroemia parviflora. We found site-dependent and between-species differences in nutrient content and nutrient remobilization. Above all, Plot A shows decreased Nutrient Use Efficiency (NUE) and Nutrient Retranslocation Efficiency (NRE) than Plot B which in tum depicts nutrient (mainly P and K) limitation at fragmented Plot B.