www.scholarsresearchlibrary.com t Available online a Scholars Research Library Annals of Biological Research, 2015, 6 (11):25-30 (http://scholarsresearchlibrary.com/archive.html) ISSN 0976-1233 CODEN (USA): ABRNBW 25 Scholars Research Library Assessment of soil seedbank composition of woody species in Ramsai Range, Gorumara National Park Anup Kumar Sarkar Prasanna Deb Women’s College, Jalpaiguri, West Bengal, India _____________________________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT Now a days the depletion of forests and the need for their restoration are well recognised. In restoring forests, the first step is to quantify the actual and potential levels of natural regeneration ability of plant by examining the role of soil seed banks as propagule donors. In present work, soil seedbank assessment of woody plant species was made in Ramsai forests so as to evaluate composition and estimate their regeneration status. A total of 24 quadrates were established in selected six sites of the forest. The quadrates (20m x 20m) were laid along line transects.Composition and status were determined by direct count. Results showed the presence of seeds of 14 plant species in the soil. Shorea robusta had the highest seed density and Importance Value Index.The similarity between the soil seed bank, and above-ground vegetation was more or less same in most of the quadrate sites. Regeneration was abundant in some species, but poor in many others. The natural regeneration process should therefore be assisted through direct seeding planting . Keywords: Soil, Seed bank, Quadrate,Woody species, Viable seeds, Regeneration _____________________________________________________________________________________________ INRODUCTION Deforestation is the major problem of all forests including Ramsai range of Gorumara National Park. Deforestation and conversion of land to permanent cultivation is the primary cause for damaging biodiversity and the practice has already threatened a number of plant species (IBC, 2005). In countries like India where a rapidly growing human population is inducing over exploitation of the available productive natural resources, restoration of the forest is very needded to maintain ecological balance.In this regard one widely used option is to allow spontaneous forest regeneration from soil seed bank [2] (Reubens et al.,2007). Dormant seeds (viable seeds that would germinate after favourable conditions) in the soil, collectively known as the soil seed bank, play a crucial role in the patterns of vegetation [4] (Hirsch et al.,2012). Seed-banks are formed by seeds, either born and produced on site or carried to the site by dispersal agents [4] [3] [2] (Hirsch et al., 2012; Emiru et al.,2006;Carlo and Aukema,2005).Seed banks, in particular, are also important in maintaining species and genetic diversity in communities and in allowing species to persist through disturbance or adverse conditions[12][15] (Thompson; Rees). The existence of soil seed banks in forests has several ecological consequences: 1. At the population level, the lasting seed reserve in the soil may reduce the local extinction risk of vulnerable species[7] [1] (Venable & Brown ; Aparicio & Guisande). 2. The seed bank is a reflection of past environmental conditions and tends to have a different genetic structure to that of above-ground plants, thus possibly affecting evolutionary trends [6] [1](Levin; Aparicio et al.,).