Comparative Study of Factors Affecting Dependency of Households on Dry Deciduous Forest in Shivpuri, Madhya Pradesh (India)

The rural and tribal communities of Madhya Pradesh’s Shivpuri District depend on forest resources for meeting their domestic energy needs, forest products, and employment. Under Green India Mission, households were randomly selected and surveyed. The data of 61 households from 3 villages of Satanwada range (dry deciduous forest) and 131 households from 4 villages in Pichhore range (dry deciduous scrub forest) was collected through semi-structured questionnaire interviews and direct observation. Generalised Linear Model was used to determine the major factors affecting fuelwood collection. The study revealed the factors affecting the amount of fuelwood collection in Satanwada and Pichhore. Family size of households near to the forest negatively affected the amount of fuelwood collected; opportunity cost of fuelwood collection was lower for them than for families living further away from the forest in Satanwada. In Pichhore, LPG consumption reduced the amount of fuelwood collected, while cow dung complimented the quantity of fuelwood collected. Since the availability of fuelwood was scarce, alternate energy resources became determining factors of the amount of fuelwood collected. In both ranges, the distance of the forest from households had a positive effect on the quantity of fuelwood consumed due to higher opportunity cost and degradation of adjacent forests. The study also revealed a strong correlation between the sampled population percentage of women in villages and the sampled village cattle count. The study also showed the difference of fuelwood collection in Satanwada (8.8 ± 0.6 kg) and Pichhore (6.8 ± 0.4 kg) suggesting that forest degradation correlates with lesser utilisation of forest resources. Hence, the study justifies the need of synergy between public rural provisions of alternative fuel sources with afforestation programs.

Trees of Yadahalli Chinkara Wildlife Sanctuary, Bagalkot, Karnataka, India: A checklist

Yadahalli Chinkara Wildlife Sanctuary is located in semi-arid zone of north Karnataka with heterogeneous vegetation types within it. The forest has variable geographical features such as rocky slopes, open grass lands, scrub forest, seasonal minor waterfalls and lakes. The present paper provides a checklist of tree species of Yadahalli Chinkara Wildlife Sanctuary, Bagalkot, which spreads over the Bilagi and Mudhol taluka. The list comprises of 80 tree species belonging to 67 genera of 34 families. The family Fabaceae contributes 23 species followed by Moraceae, Rubiaceae and Rutaceae 4 species each. Out of 80 species, three species are endemic to Peninsular India, four species are Vulnerable (VU), and one species is Near Threatened (NT) at global level. The present work is an inventory of tree species of Yadahalli Chinkara Wildlife Sanctuary, Bagalkot, in view to create awareness among the local people and to support the conservation activities in the forest.

Diversity of climbers in Vallanadu Black-buck Sanctuary, Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu

In climbers the stems are weak and these plants need various climbing devices in order to support growth and development. The climbers are predominately angiosperms. The present study chiefly focuses on diversity of climbers in Vallanadu Black-buck Sanctuary. The present study recorded 28 herbaceous climbers and 14 lianas from the scrub forest of Vallanadu Black-buck sanctuary. In dicotyledons, 15 families containing 33 genera and 40 species were recorded. In monocotyledons, 2 families containing 1 genus and 1species each were recorded. The present study reported invasive species such as Ipomoea obscura, Ipomoea pes-tigridis, Clitoria ternatea and Passiflora foetida. The present study recorded 24 medicinal climbers. Conservation of climber and lianas is the need of the hour and climbers provide valuable germplasm as medicinal plants for the benefit of humankind.

A weed risk analytical screen to assist in the prioritisation of an invasive flora for containment

Prioritising weeds for control and deciding upon the type of control and its associated investment are fundamental to weed management planning. Risk analysis is central to this process, combining the activities of risk assessment, risk management and risk communication. Risk assessment methodology has a rich history, but management feasibility has typically been a secondary matter, dealt with separately or not at all. Determinants of management feasibility for weeds include the stage of invasion, weed biology, means of control and cost of weed control. Here, we describe a simple weed risk analytical screen that combines risk assessment with species traits that influence management feasibility. We consider stage of invasion, species biological/dispersal characteristics and plant community invasibility in a preliminary analysis of the risk posed by the non-native plant species on Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean. For each of 31 high-risk species considered to be ineradicable under existing funding constraints, we analyse the risk posed to two major plant communities: evergreen closed-canopy rainforest and semi-deciduous scrub forest. Weed risk ratings are combined with ratings for species-intrinsic feasibility of containment (based on a measure that combines time to reproduction with potential for long distance dispersal) to create preliminary rankings for containment specific to each community. These rankings will provide a key input for a more thorough analysis of containment feasibility – one that considers spatial distributions/landscape features, management aspects and the social environment. We propose a general non-symmetric relationship between weed risk and management feasibility, considering risk to be the dominant component of risk analysis. Therefore, in this analysis species are ranked according to their intrinsic containment feasibility within similar levels of risk to produce an initial prioritisation list for containment. Shade-tolerant weeds are of particular concern for the closed-canopy evergreen rainforest on Christmas Island, but a greater diversity of weeds is likely to invade the semi-deciduous scrub forest because of higher light availability. Nevertheless, future invasion of both communities will likely be conditioned by disturbance, both natural and anthropogenic. The plant communities of Christmas Island have undergone significant fragmentation because of clearing for phosphate mining and other purposes. With a substantial number of invasive plant species firmly established and having the potential to spread further, minimising future anthropogenic disturbance is paramount to reducing community invasibility and therefore conserving the island’s unique biodiversity.

Palmoxylon wood of Dracaena from Neyveli lignite formation, Tamil Nadu, India

The palms are a very diverse group, which mostly distributed in tropical forest, they are large ecological amplitude that extends from temperate environments to deserts and from sea level to high altitudes. The anatomy of the fossil axis shows the anomalous types of secondary growth and critical observations suggest that it belongs to the tribe Dracaeneae of the family Dracaena as well as to some extent Cordyline. The characterized by fossil palm wood is highly indicated the much high rainfall and a moist climates in contrast to the desert and scrub forest. The detailed anatomical study revealed with affinities of the extant genus of Cordyline taxa comes under the family Arecaceae. Its geographical range is also distinct, limited by tropical climatic conditions.

The Assessment of land use land cover and carbon sequestration in forests of Joida Taluk of Uttar Kannada district using Remote sensing technique

The study was conducted in Joida Taluk of Uttar Kannada district, Karnataka to assess the land use land cover (LULC) and carbon sequestration of the forest during the year 2019-20. The ground truth data for different LULC was collected using GPS, and data was used for classification of IRS LISS 4 data using maximum likelihood classifier in ERDAS imagine software. The sample plots of 23.2 m X 23.2 m were laid out randomly in forests and growth parameters (tree height and diameter) were recorded, and biomass was estimated using the standard formula. There are eight LULC classes’ viz., dense forest, moderately dense forest, open/sparse forest, scrub forest, agriculture, settlement, horticulture plantation and waterbody. The overall accuracy of the classification was 97.09%. The total biomass in Joida Taluk from four forest classes (dense forest, moderately dense forest, open/sparse forest and scrub forest) was 44.16 million m3 and carbon sequestered was 15.57 million tonnes. The NDVI values ranging from -0.23 to 0.74, indicating a higher value for dense forest. Based on this study, it is concluded that forests have potential in carbon sequestration, which in turn helps in mitigating the climate change.

Studies on Fungal of Diseases of Cassia fistula and control measures in Nurseries and Plantation in Jalgaon District (M.S.) India

During the extensive and intensive survey of the forest fungal disease of Cassia fistula growing in the road side, field, scrub forest near natural forest, plantations and nurseries, about nine type of fungal and bacterial diseases were recorded during 2017-2019. The diseases : wilt, leaf spot, leaf and stem rot were recorded in different study sites in the different seasons. The causal organism (Pathogens) were identified as Alternaria alternate, Fusarium solani, Phloespora cassia, Ganoderma lucidum and Pseudo sercospora.