Quantitative Assessment of Regeneration Patterns and Ethnobotanical Significance of Embelia vestita Roxb. (Primulaceae) in the Selected Subtropical Forests of Mizoram, Northeast India.

Abstract

Embelia vestita Roxb. (Primulaceae) is a culturally significant medicinal plant used by Mizo communities for treating intestinal parasitic infections, digestive ailments, fever, skin diseases, snakebites and rheumatism. This study integrates ethnobotanical documentation with a quantitative analysis of regeneration patterns across three forest sites in Mizoram, Northeast India. Analysis of variance revealed that E. vestita exhibits the most comprehensive spatial variation among all 40 species studied, with statistically significant differences observed in density (p < 0.001), abundance (p < 0.001), relative frequency (p < 0.001), relative density (p < 0.001), relative dominance (p < 0.01), Importance Value Index (p < 0.001) and species rank (p < 0.05). Mean plots demonstrated that Site 2 provides optimal regeneration conditions across all parameters, while Sites 1 and 3 support significantly reduced population performance. Correlation with regional soil science literature indicates that these regeneration patterns are driven by edaphic factors, including soil organic carbon, nitrogen availability, microbial activity and land-use history. The extreme site sensitivity of E. vestita exhibiting significant variation in every measured parameter makes it a priority conservation species requiring immediate management intervention. This paper recommends site-specific harvesting, protection of high-performance sites as source populations, habitat restoration in suboptimal locations, and long-term monitoring using Importance Value Index and density indicators.