Review on regeneration status of Betulautilis D. Don: A critically endangered multipurpose timber line species in Indian Himalayan region

2021 ◽  
pp. 155-167
Author(s):  
Anjana ◽  
Renu Lata ◽  
S.S. Samant ◽  
Mithilesh Singh

The Himalayan birch (Betulautilis D. Don), also known as Bhojpatra in India, is one of the Himalayan region's most important ethnobotanicaltreelinespecies. It aids in the preservation of the Himalaya's fragile environment by preventing soil erosion and conserving the rest of the flora and wildlife below the treelinezone.Betulautilis has been identified for medical (anticancer, anti-HIV, antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory) and ethno botanical relevance by several ethnic and non-ethnic communities living in the Himalaya and elsewhere, in addition to several ecological benefits.The bark of the Betula tree has long been used to write old manuscripts.It may also be used as a packing material, is waterproof, can be used to roof dwellings, umbrellas, and other items.The historical usage of B. utilis, as well as recent overharvesting to suit community and commercial demands, have put strain on the species natural populations. B. utilis faces numerous threats, including overharvesting, deforestation, erosion, grazing, global warming, and disease attack.Thus, it has been categorized as Critically Endangeredspecies.The main problem of the mountain forestsislack of adequateregenerationprocess. Very little information on population dynamics, regeneration, and physiology and seed germination is available from different parts of the country but no any systematic study has been done so far on multipurpose timberline tree species of Indian Himalayan Region. As a result, it's critical to keep an eye on these sensitive places and keystone species for future changes caused by climate or anthropogenic pressure, especially in locations where baseline data is scarce. The ease and suitability of propagation methods for this species is also not well documented in the literature. With these limitations in mind, the current study aims to document the status of Betulautilis regeneration in the Indian Himalayan region.

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-71
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Williams-Oerberg

Due to a burgeoning tourism industry in the Indian Himalayan region of Ladakh, Buddhist monasteries now have lucrative means for generating income through tourism-related business and financial support from international sponsors and local business owners. Where previously Buddhist monasteries were dependent on the donations and labour of the lay community, currently, with the accumulation of surplus wealth, many Buddhist leaders of prominent monasteries have begun flipping this donor system around. Throughout this article, I look at how Buddhist monastic leaders have invested surplus economic resources into philanthropic projects as a way to ‘give back’ to the wider community. I argue that the philanthropic initiatives by Buddhist leaders in Ladakh help to position Buddhist monastics as taking a leading role in the social and economic transformation of the region, thus working to push back against processes of secularization that threaten to decrease the influence of Buddhist monastic institutions.


2021 ◽  
pp. 100199
Author(s):  
Arun Jyoti Nath ◽  
Rakesh Kumar ◽  
N. Bijayalaxmi Devi ◽  
Pebam Rocky ◽  
Krishna Giri ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 193 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jairam Singh Yadav ◽  
Sameer K. Tiwari ◽  
Anshuman Misra ◽  
Santosh K. Rai ◽  
Ravi K. Yadav

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (20) ◽  
pp. 4090
Author(s):  
Amit Kumar Batar ◽  
Hideaki Shibata ◽  
Teiji Watanabe

An estimation of where forest fragmentation is likely to occur is critically important for improving the integrity of the forest landscape. We prepare a forest fragmentation susceptibility map for the first time by developing an integrated model and identify its causative factors in the forest landscape. Our proposed model is based upon the synergistic use of the earth observation data, forest fragmentation approach, patch forests, causative factors, and the weight-of-evidence (WOE) method in a Geographical Information System (GIS) platform. We evaluate the applicability of the proposed model in the Indian Himalayan region, a region of rich biodiversity and environmental significance in the Indian subcontinent. To obtain a forest fragmentation susceptibility map, we used patch forests as past evidence of completely degraded forests. Subsequently, we used these patch forests in the WOE method to assign the standardized weight value to each class of causative factors tested by the Variance Inflation Factor (VIF) method. Finally, we prepare a forest fragmentation susceptibility map and classify it into five levels: very low, low, medium, high, and very high and test its validity using 30% randomly selected patch forests. Our study reveals that around 40% of the study area is highly susceptible to forest fragmentation. This study identifies that forest fragmentation is more likely to occur if proximity to built-up areas, roads, agricultural lands, and streams is low, whereas it is less likely to occur in higher altitude zones (more than 2000 m a.s.l.). Additionally, forest fragmentation will likely occur in areas mainly facing south, east, southwest, and southeast directions and on very gentle and gentle slopes (less than 25 degrees). This study identifies Himalayan moist temperate and pine forests as being likely to be most affected by forest fragmentation in the future. The results suggest that the study area would experience more forest fragmentation in the future, meaning loss of forest landscape integrity and rich biodiversity in the Indian Himalayan region. Our integrated model achieved a prediction accuracy of 88.7%, indicating good accuracy of the model. This study will be helpful to minimize forest fragmentation and improve the integrity of the forest landscape by implementing forest restoration and reforestation schemes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 19791-19798
Author(s):  
Sudam Charan Sahu ◽  
Manas Ranjan Mohanta ◽  
N.H. Ravindranath

Heritiera fomes Buch.-Ham. is assessed as an endangered mangrove species by IUCN, and information on population status is lacking. The present study assesses the status of H. fomes in Mahanadi Mangrove Wetland on the east coast of India. Three forest blocks were selected and sampled for this study. Among these, the mean girth at breast height (GBH) of H. fomes was the highest in Hetamundia (HD) forest block. GBH of H. fomes was inversely proportional to the cumulative disturbance index (R2= 0.7244, p value <0.005). The relative density was maximum for H. fomes (56%) at Bhitarkharnasi (BK), and for Excoecaria agallocha at Hetamundia (HD; 35%) & Kansaridia (KD; 54%), respectively. Excoecaria agallocha is a dominant species possibly impacting natural populations of H. fomes. Climate change and rising sea levels may also negatively affect the existence of this species. Therefore, appropriate strategies should be taken for conservation of this globally threatened mangrove species prior to its extinction.


2012 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 442-478 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dusko Dimitrijevic ◽  
Ivona Ladjevac ◽  
Mihajlo Vucic

After the Security Council had established the international administration in Kosovo on grounds of the Resolution no. 1244 of 10 June 1999 for the construction and reconstruction of the legal and economic systems, the support and protection of human rights, the provision of humanitarian and other assistance, it adopted the conclusion that the achievement of a political settlement for the southern Serbian province would primarily depend on the development and consolidation of peace and security. Accordingly, in May 2001, the international administration adopted the Constitutional Framework for Provisional Self- Government in Kosovo, which defined the status of the Serbian southern province as a whole and indivisible territorial entity under the interim international administration. The Constitutional Framework is regulated as a substantial transfer of state responsibilities by the peoples of Kosovo and Metohija to the provisional institutions of self-government and it should ?enjoy substantial autonomy within the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia?. This institutional development is aimed at establishing constructive cooperation among various ethnic communities in order to build a common democratic state. Since this solution is not quite legally balanced, it could not go without any negative consequences in terms of national sovereignty. The suspension of sovereignty of the Republic of Serbia in Kosovo and Metohija has eventually contributed to creating of the conditions for the socalled unilateral declaration of independence of the Republic of Kosovo. The analysis of the activities undertaken in the field of resolving the status issue after the unilateral declaration of independence of 17 February 2008 suggests that the solution for the Kosovo and Metohija should be primarily sought within the United Nations system.


2015 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marilyn O. Quimado ◽  
Edwino S. Fernando ◽  
Lorele C. Trinidad ◽  
Augustine Doronila

Botanical exploration on ultramafic sites in Palawan, Surigao and Zambales has resulted in the discovery of a new hypernickelophore species (nickel (Ni) concentration >1%) of Phyllanthus (Phyllanthaceae). This paper reports in detail the Ni uptake of populations of P. erythrotrichus in Candelaria, Masinloc and Santa Cruz, Zambales, and confirms the status of P. securinegoides in Taganito, Surigao del Norte, which had been analysed only through herbarium specimens, and these were compared with a known hypernickelophore, P. balgooyi, which was collected in Narra and Puerto Princesa, Palawan. Nickel content of the dried leaves, stems and root tissues was quantified using atomic absorption spectrophotometer. P. erythrotrichus and P. securinegoides both had more than 10 000 µg g–1 Ni in the leaves, whereas the roots had 1195 µg g–1 and 4636 µg g–1. P. balgooyi accumulated 6319 µg g–1 of Ni in the leaves, whereas the roots had a higher Ni concentration of up to 8116 µg g–1, respectively. All three species had values of translocation factor and enrichment factor of >1.0, implying that all species have great potential in phytoremediation, specifically, phytoextraction of Ni. These three species of Phyllanthus are prominent in ultramafic scrub communities and, hence, should be used in ecological restoration of mined-out Ni lateritic areas. The implications of the unique adaptation of these species are also discussed in relation to a conservation strategy for their natural populations.


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