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Jitendra Bhatt , Jeet Ram

Abstract

The study species, Carpinus viminea Wall, family Betulaceae, is a medium sized, lesser known, deciduous tree species distributed mainly between 1,800-2,400m elevations in Uttarakhand. It occurs mainly as an under-story species in moist Himalayan temperate forests. The objectives of the present study were to determine the ecological assemblage, seasonal changes, germination and seedling growth. Four study sites between 1,920 and 2,280m altitude were selected for the study. Vegetation characteristics indicated that the species had 33.8±10.8 ind ha^-1mean tree density and 1.5±0.4 m²ha^-1 mean basal area. Distribution pattern indicated that the species were contiguously distributed. Phenology indicated that leaf fall is completed before seed dispersal. All phenophases delayed towards higher elevations except leaf fall and seed dispersal which is earlier at higher elevation. Seeds germinated from different sitesresponded differently (P<0.001) to germination. Similarly, germination also varied significantly (F= 50.1, P<0.001) in different conditions. It was greater in seed germinator (T₁)and least in open nursery conditions (T₃). Highest germination was found in seeds of maturity periods (P₀), whereas, seedling growth, biomass and survival were greater at P₂ storage i.e. 6 months storage. To increase germination in open nursery conditions seeds can be sown in germination trays by adding lime between February and May. These base line data will help in understanding the ecology and regeneration of C.viminea , and also provide basic information for long term studies in relation to climate change research.

Keywords

Carpinus viminea Wall., Ecology, Regeneration, Lesser Known Tree Species,
Uttarakhand, Himalayas

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Atul Pandit , Jeet Ram

Abstract

Pinus roxburghii (Chir pine) is a major forest forming species in the hills between 450- 2300m altitude. It has a great promise in afforestation programme in degraded and barren areas because it has the ability to grow eyen in the harsh environmental conditions. In the present study, 11 pretreatment were given to seeds to see the effect on germination. The two-way ANOVA between the sites and pretreatment was not significant. which indicates that Pinus roxburghii has almost similar germination in all the treatments. The mean germination varies from 83.00% to 95.75% for all the treatments. The mean germination was slightly higher for Soni and Matiyal forests for almost all the treatments. which may be considered a seed source for the future seed collection and afforestation programme.

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Jeet Ram , Beena Tewari , Neeta Arya

Abstract

Medicinal plants are one of the important components of the forests of Himalaya and grow in different communities and group of species. The herb communities were studied mainly in oak and oak mixed forests of Uttarakhand Himalaya. Herb cover was higher in oak-pine forest while it was lower in oak dominated mixed forest. The most frequent medicinal herb was A. nilagerica while large number of medicinal herbs was rarely distributed in these forests. It was concluded that the natural distribution and their associations would be important for growing and conserving the medicinal herbs in the Uttarakhand Himalaya.

Keywords

Medicinal Plants, A. Nilagerica, Distribution And Uttarakhand

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Nandan Singh ¹, Jeet Ram ¹, Ashish Tewari ¹, R. P. Yadav ²

Affiliations
1 Department of Forestry and Environmental Science, Kumaun University, Nainital 263 002, IN
2 Vivekananda Institute of Hill Agriculture, ICAR, Almora 263 601, IN

Abstract

Phenological events of rhododendron (Rhododendron arboreum Sm.) were monitored along elevation gradients in distinct ecological settings. The observations were carried out between 1500 and 2500 m elevation in Central Himalaya. The phenological events, i.e. bud formation, bud bursting, leafing, flowering, fruit formation and seed formation were recorded. Phenological duration and synchrony of all these phenophases were determined within site and along the elevation gradient in each study site. Our observations showed high synchrony throughout the elevation gradient, especially for peak flowering. Temperature, rainfall, age of the observed trees and site characteristics were related to initial and peak flowering dates. The circumference varied from 35.0 ± 2.73 to 140.0 ± 2.88 cm; similarly, height varied from 5.0 ± 1.02 to 16.5 v 1.41 m. All the phenological events began early at low elevation and were delayed at higher elevation. R. arboreum had a sharp flowering peak from January to March. Wet season flowering was rare, and seed formation occurred in summer. The climatic conditions affected the phenological characters of R. arboreum.

Keywords

Climate Change, Elevation Gradient, Phenology, Rhododendron arboreum.

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