The Beliefs and Aesthetics of Isaan Heritage Trees

This article is a part of a Doctoral Thesis titled “Isaan Heritage Tree: From the Belief and the Aesthetic to the Creation of Visual Arts,” with the objectives of studying the belief and the aesthetic that exist in the Isaan Heritage Tree using the qualitative method. The study’s target groups can be divided into three following groups: the experts, the practitioners, and the related people. The area of study is in the Isaan region. The region is divided into upper Isaan, mid-Isaan, and lower Isaan. The research tools consist of surveys, non-participatory observation, and structured and non-structured interviews. The data collected from documents and field data was analyzed using Aesthetic Theory and Symbolic Interactionism Theory and presented using descriptive analysis. The study results show that Isaan has a long history and development both in geography, the administration, society, the culture, and the migration of people who came to settle in the area from Luang Phrabang, Vientiane, and Champasak. This had caused the people and nation’s coming together and led to social management, which consists of regulations, religion, and belief. The beliefs of the Isaan people are connected to forest spirits, household spirits, or tree spirits. Five following characteristics of the Heritage Trees were also found: 1) The traditional beliefs related to the Heritage Trees of Isaan. 2) The new belief. 3) The beliefs that are connected to the locations. 4) The beliefs in the tree spirits whose identity and gender cannot be identified. 5) Auspicious and inauspicious beliefs. There are three aspects for the aesthetics: Aesthetic elements are the feeling of amazement due to the gigantic size filled with astonishment, mystery, and the fear of power. The interesting aspects of Art elements are the unity and relationship to the seasons, such as the Fall season, Rainy Season, and the blooming of flowers that contribute to the changes in the aesthetics changes. The visual art elements consist of six following components; bodies and shapes, lines, colors, textures, light and shadows, and area. It was found that the gigantic size and height cause amazements to the viewers. The physical lines of the Isaan Heritage trees were the lines along the trunks, the lines on the branches, and the lines that go along the leaves and flowers. There are different colors of the trunk, the leaves, and the flowers. The texture was rough, harsh, and the cracks follow the same directions as the trunk. There are botanical differences in the light and shadows of the heritage trees. As for the area, there are differences between the area of the heritage trees and the surrounding areas, as well as the differences within the Isaan Heritage Trees area. Received: 25 January 2021 / Accepted: 31 March 2021 / Published: 10 May 2021

The Induction of Adventitious Roots Regeneration before Transplanting Rootless Ficus elastica Heritage Tree

Heritage trees carry both botanical and historical value for a city’s resilience and sustainability and hence are precious and unique. Their transplant is costly and very rare due to tremendous cost and 100% survival requirement by law. Rootless transplant is even more detrimental to the heritage tree due to removal of roots infected by brown root rot (BRR) before transplanting. This study examined the adventitious roots (AR) induction ability of the Ficus elastica Roxb. heritage tree infected with BRR. The experimental design considered three factors: root diameter (RD), wounding method (WM), and auxin solution on aerial roots under fractional factorial experiment in completely randomized design (CRD). There were four RD groups: RDI (RD < 2 cm), RDII (2 ≤ RD ≤ 4.3 cm), RDIII (4.3 < RD ≤ 22), and RDIV (RD > 22); three WMs: cutting off (CF), girdling (GD), and rectangular shape peeling (RP) of aerial roots; and three auxin solutions: 2000 mg·L−1 IBA(Indole-3-butyric acid) (2B), 2000 mg·L−1 IBA + 2000 mg·L−1 NAA(1-Naphthaleneacetic acid) (2NB), and 4000 mg·L−1 IBA (4B) plus water as control (C). The number of rooting wounds, number of roots, and the mean length of the three longest adventitious roots in each wound were recorded to evaluate the AR rooting performance. Twenty four treatment combinations including 328 wounds were tested. The results showed that rooting ability was significantly correlated with RD and WM. Smaller RDs had better rooting and declined with increased RDs. CF had the best rooting followed by GD and then RP. Auxin solution did not significantly affect the rooting ability. It may be due to the abundant endogenous auxin in the heritage tree, which mitigated the effect of exogenous auxin for AR induction. We conclude that cutting off small-diameter aerial roots is the best approach to induce ARs from rootless F. elastica heritage trees to enhance transplantation success.

Heritage Trees in Macau: Relationships Among Biomass Structure, Age, and Ecosystem Services

Older trees in good health are expected to provide more ecosystem services and equivalent economic values due to their large size. The relationship of tree dimensions, respective tree height, crown area, diameter at breast height (dbh), and total leaf area vis-a-vis age were studied for 790 heritage trees ≥ 100 years old in Macau; 50 genera and 63 species were represented. Seven out of ten common genera showed no significant increase for all tested parameters except increase of dbh with age. Other factors, such as condition and geometry of growing spaces, controlled the performance of heritage trees, as well as the realization of their biological potential size, with implications on the provision of ecosystem services. The effects of these heritage trees on air-quality improvement and gross carbon sequestration were quantified by the i-Tree Eco model. Overall, 806.8 kg of air pollutants were removed annually, with benefits valued at US $8,091. The heritage trees stored 3,041 t carbon in total and sequestered 842 kg carbon/yr, equivalent to US $601 in annual benefits. The values were much higher than ordinary urban forest trees. Ten common heritage tree genera were ranked by their capacities for air quality improvement, carbon storage, and sequestration. The findings can serve as a decision tool for heritage tree management and conservation and to estimate potential ecosystem services of established trees

Identifikasi Heritage Tree pada Jalur De Groote Postweg di Kota Bogor

Kota Bogor merupakan salah satu kota yang tergabung dalam Jaringan Kota Pusaka Indonesia (JKPI) dalam Program Penataan dan Pelestarian Kota Pusaka (P3KP) yang bertujuan mempertahankan aset pusaka dan karakter kota pusaka. Aset pusaka Kota Bogor tidak terlepas dari sejarah De Groote Postweg pada masa kolonial. Tidak hanya elemen fisik bentukan manusia dan tata guna lahanpada Jalur De Groote Postweg, tetapi juga elemen alami berupa pohon. Studi ini bertujuan untuk memetakan dan mengklasifikasikan pohon yang diduga sebagai heritage tree; mengidentifikasi pohon berdasarkan aspek fisik, aspek sejarah, dan aspek lanskap; dan menyusun rekomendasi dalam pelestarian heritage tree dan penguatan karakter lanskap pada Jalur De Groote Postwegdi Kota Bogor. Studi ini menunjukkan bahwa pohon yang diduga sebagai heritage tree sebanyak 281 pohon dari 17 spesies pohon serta termasuk 8 famili. Spesies pohon dengan jumlah terbanyak yang diduga sebagai heritage tree adalah pohon kenari (Canarium commune L.) sebanyak 220 pohon. Pendugaan umur pohon kenari (Canarium commune L.) dengan rentang 50-75 tahun sebanyak 80 pohon, rentang 75-100 tahun sebanyak 62 pohon, rentang 100-200 tahun sebanyak 71 pohon, dan rentang &gt; 200 tahun sebanyak 7 pohon. Spesies pohon lainya dengan rentang umur &gt; 200 tahun didominasi oleh famili Moraceae yang terdiri atas banyan (Ficus virens Aiton), beringin (Ficus benjamina L.), beringin karet (Ficus elastica Roxb.), dan Ficus crassipes (Ficus crassipes F.M. Bailey). Rekomendasi yang diusulkan dalam pelestarian heritage treedan penguatan karakter lanskap pada Jalur De Groote Postweg di Kota Bogor dibagi menjadi tiga bagian, yaitu pemeliharaan heritage tree, perbaikan lingkungan tumbuh, dan penguatan karakteristik lanskap. Dalam pemeliharaan heritage tree, seluruh pohon terutama pohon kenari (Canarium commune L.) harus dipelihara berdasarkan jenis dan tingkat kerusakannya. Perbaikan lingkungan tumbuh dapat dilakukan pada kondisi yang tidak menguntungkan terutama untuk struktur akar, ruang tumbuh akar, struktur jalan, dan dilanjutkan dengan penanaman pohon sejenis seperti pohon kenari (Canarium commune L.) pada ruang yang kosong. Penguatan karakterisik lanskap pada Jalur De Groote Postwegdi Kota Bogor dapat mengunakan papan interpretasi atau elemen lain yang dapat membantu mengenali pohon-pohon pusaka dan nuansa lanskap pusaka.

Formulation of a Hybrid Framework for Heritage Tree Expert Assessment and Classification: A Malaysian Perspective

In Malaysia, there is an abundance of tropical heritage trees throughout the country. Heritage trees are natural large trees with exceptional value due to association with age or special event or distinguished people. For sustainable heritage trees conservation, it is essential to set up a repository of such trees to prevent the trees from being destroyed unwittingly. In this regard, a general, yet localised framework for assessment and classification of the trees is essential. In this study, ten assessment and classification criteria with a total of forty-one sub-indicators were formulated. The framework supplements the general, easy-to-understand Tree Assessment for Heritage (TreeAH) model with localised Malaysian arborists’ expert opinions elicited via rigorous Delphi and focus group techniques. The framework facilitates tree care experts the election of nominated trees as heritage trees. Efforts are currently underway by the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM) to refine and customise the framework with more specific assessment scales and questionnaire for the purpose of quantifying values of trees in the FRIM campus in Kepong, Kuala Lumpur for UNESCO world heritage site application. Preliminary result shows promising prospect of the framework being used not only for the FRIM’s use case but also at a larger scale nationwide for heritage tree assessment and classification.

A study of the largest Banyan tree of Rajasthan State at village Madri, tehsil Jhadol, post Nai, district Udaipur, Rajasthan

The largest Banyan tree of Rajasthan state is present in Madri village of Udaipur district. As many as 12 broken branches of this tree are lying on the ground in live condition which are growing outwards. This tree is devoid of prop roots. The crown spread of the tree is about 117 m in North-South direction and about 111 m in East-West direction. The periphery of stem is about 21.0 m at Breast Height (BH). This tree is very important from eco-tourism point of view. By massive advertisement and proper arrangements, tourists can be attracted towards this tree. This act would help to increase income of the Panchayat and would help to generate employment for local people. Being a heritage tree, it deserves conservation also.

Doğanın Mirası: Anıt Ağaçlar

Heritage trees are naturel heritages. Heritage trees are typically a large, individual tree with unique value, which is considered irreplaceable. The major criteria for heritage tree designation are age, rarity, and size, as well as aesthetic, botanical, ecological, and historical value. Today many researcher’s focus on recording,, protection and management strategies of heritage trees. Counties have different strategies about heritage trees. The aims of the study are; (1) Preserving the characteristics of being heritage trees, (2) Present suggestions for record, protection and management strategies of heritage trees in Turkey.