  AIMS: The aim of this work is to understand whether there is a difference in
the dispersion of discs around stars in high-density young stellar clusters
like the Orion Nebula Cluster (ONC) according to the mass of the star.
  METHODS: Two types of simulations were combined -- N-body simulations of the
dynamics of the stars in the ONC and mass loss results from simulations of
star-disc encounters, where the disc mass loss of all stars is determined as a
function of time.
  RESULTS: We find that in the Trapezium, the discs around high-mass stars are
dispersed much more quickly and to a larger degree by their gravitational
interaction than for intermediate-mass stars. This is consistent with the very
recent observations of IC 348, where a higher disc frequency was found around
solar mass stars than for more massive stars, suggesting that this might be a
general trend in large young stellar clusters.
