scholarly journals Community Structure of Migratory Waterbirds at Two Important Wintering Sites in a Sub-Himalayan Forest Tract in West Bengal, India

The Ring ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-37
Author(s):  
Asitava Chatterjee ◽  
Shuvadip Adhikari ◽  
Sudin Pal ◽  
Subhra Kumar Mukhopadhyay
Keyword(s):  
Eichhornia Crassipes ◽  
Habitat Management ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
Habitat Alterations ◽  
Bird Density ◽  
Increasing Trend ◽  
Luxuriant Growth ◽  
Forest Regions ◽  
Forested Areas ◽  
Migratory Waterbirds

AbstractThe waterbird community structures of two sub-Himalayan wetlands (Nararthali and Rasomati) situated in forested areas were compared during the wintering period. These wetlands had similar geophysical features but were subject to different conservation efforts. Sixty species of waterbirds, including four globally threatened species, were recorded during the study. Nararthali was found to be more densely inhabited (116.05±22.69 ind./ha) by birds than Rasomati (76.55±26.47 ind./ha). Density increased by 44.6% at Nararthali and by 59% at Rasomati over the years of the study, from 2008 to 2015. Winter visitors increased considerably at Nararthali (66.2%), while a 71.1% decrease at Rasomati clearly indicated degradation of habitat quality at that site during the later years. Luxuriant growth of Eichhornia crassipes, siltation, poor maintenance and unregulated tourist activities were the key factors leading to the rapid degradation of Rasomati. Nararthali, on the other hand, a well-managed wetland habitat, showed an increasing trend in bird densities. Therefore, poor habitat management and rapid habitat alterations were observed to be the main reasons for depletion of bird density in the wetlands of eastern sub-Himalayan forest regions.

scholarly journals Damage trends in selected forest regions and a future period forecast

2019 ◽  
pp. 189-212
Author(s):  
Nenad Rankovic ◽  
Mirjana Stanisic ◽  
Jelena Nedeljkovic ◽  
Dragan Nonic
Keyword(s):  
Correlation Analysis ◽  
Natural Hazards ◽  
Scientific Method ◽  
Future Period ◽  
Modelling Method ◽  
Increasing Trend ◽  
Forest Regions ◽  
Harmful Effects ◽  
Harmful Event

The research carried out in Serbia so far revealed an increase in forest damages from natural hazards, as well as increased share in total forest damages with their territorial inequality. This research aims to determine the trend in the number and area of damages, the area of damages per one harmful event, and the prognosis of damages caused by the harmful effects of water, wind and fire in selected forest regions of Serbia. A modelling method was used as a basic scientific method, with an application of trend regression and correlation analysis and other specific methods. The results of the research indicate that there are differences in the trends per harmful factor. An increasing trend is visible with the damages caused by the effects of water and wind but also in the extent of damages caused by all three detrimental factors. A decreasing trend is noticeable only for the damages caused by fire.

Landscape correlates of bushmeat consumption and hunting in a post-frontier Amazonian region

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 315-323 ◽  
Author(s):  
PATRICIA CARIGNANO TORRES ◽  
CARLA MORSELLO ◽  
LUKE PARRY ◽  
JOS BARLOW ◽  
JOICE FERREIRA ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Supply And Demand ◽  
Landscape Context ◽  
Conservation Strategies ◽  
Urban Migration ◽  
Landscape Characteristics ◽  
Frontier Region ◽  
Forest Regions ◽  
Forested Areas

SUMMARYIdentifying the drivers of bushmeat consumption and hunting is important for informing conservation strategies and recognizing challenges to human food security. However, studies often neglect the importance of landscape context, which can influence bushmeat supply and demand. Here, by quantifying bushmeat consumption and hunting in 262 households in a post-frontier region in Amazonia, we tested the hypotheses that bushmeat consumption and hunting are positively associated with two landscape characteristics: (1) forest cover, which has been shown to define game availability; and (2) remoteness, which is related to limited access to marketed meat. Bushmeat consumption was widespread but more likely in remote forested areas. Hunting was more likely in more forested areas, especially nearer to urban centres. Our findings suggest that bushmeat remains an important food source even in heavily altered forest regions and that landscape context is an important determinant of bushmeat consumption and hunting. Although people living in remote, forested areas are likely to be the most dependent on bushmeat, those living in more populous, peri-urban areas are likely the actors contributing most to total hunting effort, due to a higher probability of hunting combined with higher human population densities. This finding undermines the assumption that rural–urban migration in the tropics will deliver a much-needed reprieve for many overhunted species.

Late Quaternary Vegetation Dynamics in the Southern Amazon Basin Inferred from Carbon Isotopes in Soil Organic Matter

2001 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hermes Augusto de Freitas ◽  
Luiz Carlos Ruiz Pessenda ◽  
Ramon Aravena ◽  
Susy Ely Marques Gouveia ◽  
Adauto de Souza Ribeiro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Organic Matter ◽  
Carbon Isotopes ◽  
Vegetation Dynamics ◽  
Amazon Basin ◽  
Late Quaternary ◽  
Savanna Vegetation ◽  
Forest Regions ◽  
Dry Conditions ◽  
Forested Areas

AbstractCarbon isotopes of soil organic matter (SOM) were used to evaluate and establish the chronology of the vegetation dynamics of an ecosystem presently composed of savannas surrounded by forests. The study was carried out on a 200-km transect along highway BR 319, on the border of Amazonas and Rondônia states, in southern Amazon, Brazil. Large ranges in δ13C values were observed in SOM collected from profiles in the savanna (−27 to −14‰) and forest regions (−26 to −19‰), reflecting changing distribution of 13C-depleted C3 forest and 13C-enriched C4 savanna vegetation in response to climate change. These results indicate that from about 17,000 to 9000 14C yr B.P., the study area was covered by forest vegetation. Between approximately 9000 and 3000 14C yr B.P., savanna vegetation expanded at the expense of the forest. Although the expansion of savanna did not occur with the same intensity along the study transect, this process was very clearly registered by 13C-enrichment in the SOM. Since 3000 14C yr B.P., the carbon isotope data suggest that forested regions have expanded. This study adds to the mounting evidence that extensive forested areas existed in the Amazon during the last glaciation and that savanna vegetation expanded in response to warm and dry conditions during the early to middle Holocene.

scholarly journals Land-cover change threatens tropical forests and biodiversity in the Littoral Region, Cameroon

Oryx ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 54 (6) ◽  
pp. 882-891 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahmoud I. Mahmoud ◽  
Mason J. Campbell ◽  
Sean Sloan ◽  
Mohammed Alamgir ◽  
William F. Laurance
Keyword(s):  
Land Cover ◽  
Land Cover Change ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Landsat Imagery ◽  
Biodiversity Loss ◽  
Littoral Region ◽  
Equatorial Africa ◽  
Forest Regions ◽  
Forested Areas ◽  
Major Factors

AbstractTropical forest regions in equatorial Africa are threatened with degradation, deforestation and biodiversity loss as a result of land-cover change. We investigated historical land-cover dynamics in unprotected forested areas of the Littoral Region in south-western Cameroon during 1975–2017, to detect changes that may influence this important biodiversity and wildlife area. Processed Landsat imagery was used to map and monitor changes in land use and land cover. From 1975 to 2017 the area of high-value forest landscapes decreased by c. 420,000 ha, and increasing forest fragmentation caused a decline of c. 12% in the largest patch index. Conversely, disturbed vegetation, cleared areas and urban areas all expanded in extent, by 32% (c. 400,000 ha), 5.6% (c. 26,800 ha) and 6.6% (c. 78,631 ha), respectively. The greatest increase was in the area converted to oil palm plantations (c. 26,893 ha), followed by logging and land clearing (c. 34,838 ha), all of which were the major factors driving deforestation in the study area. Our findings highlight the increasing threats facing the wider Littoral Region, which includes Mount Nlonako and Ebo Forest, both of which are critical areas for regional conservation and the latter a proposed National Park and the only sizable area of intact forest in the region. Intact forest in the Littoral Region, and in particular at Ebo, merits urgent protection.

scholarly journals Needle traces as indicators of growing conditions in Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.)

2012 ◽  
Vol 49 (No. 1) ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Konôpka
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Time Series ◽  
Pinus Sylvestris ◽  
Forest Stand ◽  
Needle Retention ◽  
Increasing Trend ◽  
Forest Regions ◽  
Needle Trace Method ◽  
Growing Conditions

Needle retention (number of needle sets) and needle density (number of needle pairs per centimeter of shoot) were surveyed on Scots pines in five forest regions of Slovakia. The Needle Trace Method (NTM) was used to determine needle retention and needle density along the main stem retrospectively for the last four decades. In all forest regions, the values of these indicators varied from year to year. However, in Záhorská lowland, Vtáčnik, Krupinská plain, and High Tatras, the trends of both observed indicators were constant over the time series. The situation was different in the Levočské hills, where the needle retention displayed a decreasing trend and needle density an increasing trend. These trends probably reflected a long-term stress of air pollution on pines in this forest stand.

Wetlands in the Jiuzhaigou World Natural Heritage site of south-west China: classification and recent changes

2018 ◽  
Vol 69 (5) ◽  
pp. 677 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jie Du ◽  
Xue Qiao ◽  
Meng Zhang ◽  
Baofeng Di ◽  
Ya Tang
Keyword(s):  
Debris Flows ◽  
Heavy Rain ◽  
Storm Events ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
West China ◽  
South West ◽  
Heritage Site ◽  
Increasing Trend ◽  
Commercial Logging ◽  
Water Nutrients

To understand the effects of tourism and climate change on wetlands, a study was performed at Jiuzhaigou, a destination receiving >5 million people per year. There are 21 types of wetlands in region, covering an area of 265.1ha, with 42.8% on tufa. Wetland areas declined by 16.1% from 1983 to 1999 (autumn) and by 31.2% from 1983 to 2002 (summer) and increased by 31.8% from 1999 to 2011 (autumn) and by 60% from 2002 to 2014 (summer). Wetland changes included dissolving tufa, a reduced tufa deposit rate, collapse of tufa mats, increases in water nutrients and algae, and marshland development. Mean annual air temperature increased from 1977. Annual precipitation varied from 430 to 810mm between 1951 and 2015, exhibiting an increasing trend from 2005 onwards. The number of both heavy rain and storm events increased from 2005. The number of tourists grew slowly from 1984 to 1997, but increased quickly from 360000 in 1998 to 5.1 million in 2015. Commercial logging between 1966 and 1978 and debris flows are probably the key factors contributing to increased lake sedimentation and marshland development. Rapid tourism development with intensive bus movement and regional air pollution likely caused changes in water chemistry, which, in turn, caused tufa changes and wetland degradation. Reducing tourist numbers is likely to be effective in reducing effects on wetlands and conserving them, but research is needed to determine appropriate tourist numbers.

scholarly journals Quantitative analysis of macrophytes of Beeshazar Tal, Chitwan, Nepal

1970 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 37-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chudamani Burlakoti ◽  
Siddhi B Karmacharya
Keyword(s):  
Species Diversity ◽  
Eichhornia Crassipes ◽  
Aquatic Macrophytes ◽  
Hydrilla Verticillata ◽  
Oxbow Lake ◽  
Quantitative Investigation ◽  
Importance Value Index ◽  
Importance Value ◽  
Luxuriant Growth ◽  
Littoral Vegetation

The authors undertook a quantitative investigation of aquatic macrophytes in Beeshazar Tal (Beeshazar Lake) in summer and winter of 2002 and spring of 2003. We found a distinct seasonal variation in the distribution of macrophytes: based on importance value index, Leersia hexandra Sw., Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms, Ceratophyllum demursum L. and Trapa quadrispinosa Roxb. were dominant in the summer; E. crassipes and Hydrilla verticillata (L.f.) Royle were dominant in the winter; and Ceratophyllum submersum L., H. verticillata, E. crassipes and L. hexandra were dominant in the spring. The highest species diversity was observed in the summer, followed by winter and then spring. The luxuriant growth of aquatic macrophytes evinced the highly productive nature of the lake, while the dominance of emergents among the growth forms indicates the encroachment of littoral vegetation, indicating a successional trend toward marsh meadow. Key words: Oxbow lake, macrophytes, importance value index, species diversity Himalayan Journal of Sciences 2(3): 37-41, 2004

Pacific Salmon Environmental and Life History Models: Advancing Science for Sustainable Salmon in the Future

2009 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Quality ◽  
Habitat Management ◽  
Habitat Restoration ◽  
Pacific Salmon ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
Habitat Features ◽  
Model Predictions ◽  
Pool Area ◽  
Unit Characteristic

<em>Abstract.</em>—We describe and demonstrate the Unit Characteristic Method (UCM) as a means by which measurements of habitat from typical stream surveys can be used to estimate the capacity of a stream to rear juvenile steelhead <em>Oncorhynchus mykiss</em>. Channel unit features of importance include surface area by unit type, depth, substrate, and cover. The influence of a stream’s primary productivity is represented in the method through measures of alkalinity and turbidity. We tested the fit of model predictions to juvenile steelhead production observed in seven watersheds ranging in size from 26 to 1,420 km<sup>2</sup>. Model predictions of capacity were significantly correlated to observed maximum production of juvenile steelhead (<EM>P </EM>< 0.005, <EM>R</EM><sup>2</sup> = 0.88), as was watershed area (<EM>P </EM>< 0.005, <EM>R</EM><sup>2</sup> = 0.88). The UCM predictions revealed that parr capacity was unevenly distributed in the watersheds, and that habitat quality (smolt capacity/m<sup>2</sup>) differed between reaches among all watersheds by up to 15-fold across seven basins surveyed, and ranged more than 10-fold between reaches within four of seven test watersheds. Thus, the UCM can be used to discriminate stream reaches and features that either warrant habitat restoration or conservation. Key factors driving high or low habitat quality differed between reaches, and included pool area, riffle depth, boulder substrate, alkalinity, fine sediment, and turbidity. The UCM provides a framework for understanding the habitat features that determine the production potential of a basin, for identifying factors that limit production, and for predicting potential fish benefits from differing habitat management strategies.

scholarly journals BIOENERGY BASED ON WOOD CHIPS AS THE DEVELOPMENT DRIVER OF NON-URBAN FORESTED AREAS

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia VUKOVIC ◽  
Sergey ZALESOV ◽  
Darko VUKOVIC
Keyword(s):  
Forest Fires ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Energy Generation ◽  
Ural Region ◽  
Wood Chips ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
Bioenergy Generation ◽  
Forested Areas ◽  
Complex Project ◽  
Forested Region

One of the most important key factors for the development of non-urban areas is infrastructure, and energy generation is one of the fundamental infrastructure elements. This paper provides a new solution for energy generation based on wood chips which has a multi-sector effect because the offer to combine planning of forest cleaning cutting with bioenergy generation in one complex project, which will have socio-economic and ecological effects. The situation with forest fires makes the authors' idea more attractive because after forest fires the problem of cleaning cutting in forest becomes very important and urgent by ecological and economical points: after cleaning cutting there are a lot of low quality wood which can be recycled into chips for the production bioenergy by the authors' idea. This enriched methodology has successfully been applied into the regional strategical planning in the field of bioenergy and forestry of the Ural region of Russia; however, it is suitable for applications in regional development in any non-urban forested region of the world.

scholarly journals Biomonitoring and assessing total mercury concentrations and pools in forested areas

Biomonitoring ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mina Nasr ◽  
Paul A. Arp
Keyword(s):  
Forest Floor ◽  
Mineral Soil ◽  
Forest Biomass ◽  
Forest Vegetation ◽  
Soil Survey ◽  
Soil Layers ◽  
Forest Regions ◽  
Forested Areas ◽  
Mineral Soils ◽  
Two Phases

Abstract:This article focusses on the bio-monitoring of total Hg (THg), sulfur (TS) and carbon (TC) concentrations and pool sizes in forest vegetation and soil layers within the context of a maritime-to-inland transect study in southwestern New Brunswick. This transect stretches from the Grand Manan Island in the Bay of Fundy to the mainland coast (Little Lepreau to New River Beach) and 100 km northward to Fredericton. Along the Bay, frequent summer fogs are thought to have led to increased THg concentrations in forest vegetation and soils such that island THg > coast THg > inland THg concentrations. Transect sampling was done in two phases: (i) a general vegetation and soil survey, and (ii) focusing on specific soil layers (forest floor, top portion of the mineral soils), and select moss and mushrooms species. By way of multiple regression, it was found that soil, moss and mushroom THg and TS were strongly related to one another, with THg decreasing from the island to the inland locations. The accumulated Hg pool within the mineral soil, however, far exceeded (i) the estimated THg pools of the forest biomass (trees, moss and mushrooms) and the forest floor, and (ii) the literature-reported and case-study inferred net input/output rates for annual atmospheric Hg deposition and sequestration, Hg volatilization, and Hg leaching. Partitioning the total soil Hg pool into geogenically and atmospherically derived portions suggested that mineral soils in temperate to boreal forest regions have accumulated and retained atmospherically derived Hg over thousand years and more. These results are summarized in terms of further guiding forest THg monitoring and modelling efforts in terms of specific vegetation and soil sampling targets.

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