Interpretation of the experiments in the relationship between diversity and ecosystem process has been controversial. Most of these studies were undertaken under controlled conditions where species diversity in the experimental design was manipulated by altering either their composition or abundance or both. 

The present study is an attempt in the same direction but differs significantly in its approach since it has been carried out in an undisturbed humid subtropical forest ecosystem. The study was carried out in a sacred forest of Swer in East Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya in northeast India. it is a closed canopy forest characterized high tree diversity of vascular plants, complex community organization and high spatial heterogeneity in species distribution and forest microenvironment.

This study will be of interest to the ecologists who are studying the ecosystem of northeast India.