FACTORS RESTRAINING THE NATURAL REGENERATION OF REED BAMBOO <em>OCHLANDRA</em> <em>TRAVANCORICA</em> AND <em>O</em>. <em>WIGHTII</em> IN WESTERN GHATS, INDIA

Abstract

GOPAKUMAR B & MOTWANI B. 2013. Factors restraining the natural regeneration of reed bamboo Ochlandra travancorica and O. wightii in Western Ghats, India. The natural regeneration of Ochlandra travancorica and O. wightii is restrained by many factors. These factors include invasive growth of Mikania weed, fruit predation by boars, rodents, larvae of Achroia grisella, seedling predation by elephants and other herbivores, human activities such as clear felling, spreading fires, cleaning the bamboo grounds after flowering, construction of river embankments, establishing plantations and forest encroachments. The attack of M. micrantha and Sus scrofa gave the most deleterious impacts besides human disturbances on natural regeneration of reed bamboo. The fruiting of endemic O. wightii supported the population of an endemic rodent Platacanthomys lasyrus.