Effects of Disturbance Intensities on Vegetation Patterns in Oak Forests of Kumaun,West Himalaya

In order to realize the significance of oak forests for ecology and economy of the Himalayan region,the present study attempts to objectively characterize disturbance intensities and their impacts on compositional features of identified Oak forests, i.e.Banj-oak(Quercus leucotrichophora A.Camus), Tilonj-oak(Q.floribunda Lindley)and Kharsu-oak(Q. semecarpifolia J.E.Smith)in west Himalaya. Amongst studied forests,Q.leucotrichophora and Q. semecarpifolia forests exhibited high sensitivity towards disturbance intensities.In both forests, increasing level of disturbance significantly lowered tree density,dominance and natural recruitment (seedling and sapling density).Q.floribunda forests, however,appeared relatively more resilient to anthropogenic disturbances.Amongst studied oak forests,Q.semecarpifolia forests with overall poor natural regeneration are in a most critically endangered demographic state.However,a slightly improved regeneration(i.e.,seedling density)in moderately disturbed plots is indicative that such plots may be utilized most suitably for in situ revival of these forests.Effect of disturbance intensities on tree population is an important subject for forest ecology and management and the present study highlights a need for adopting different management strategies across disturbance intensities in diverse oak forests of west Himalaya.

Characterization of Agro-diversity by Seed Storage Protein Electrophoresis:Focus on Rice Germplasm from Uttarakhand Himalaya,India

The characteristics of 48 rice varieties from Uttarakhand Himalaya, India were detected by morphological and biochemical markers. The grains of the selected rice varieties varied in their morphological （grain length, grain width and grain weight） and biochemical characters （sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, SDS-PAGE）. Based on the presence of 70, 65, 60, 57, 37-39, 22-23, 13 and 10 kDa protein bands in the 48 rice varieties, seven types of profiles were identified. An unweighted pair group average method with arithmetic mean （UPGMA） dendrogram based on cluster analysis of genetic similarity of the protein bands showed two distinct groups with 1%-78% similarity coefficients. The presence of characteristic bands in selected varieties is a useful parameter for identification of rice germplasm.

Assessing Conservation Values of Forest Communities in Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve: Plant Diversity, Species Distribution and Endemicity

Present study has been conducted in a biodiversity rich Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve between 2000-3800 m in two different forest physiognomy holding sites to analyze the structure and composition of the forest communities including richness of native, non native and endemic species,and suggest conservation values at community and reserve level.A total of 60 sites were sampled and grouped in 11 and 8 communities for two representative sites Pindari-Sunderdhunga-Kafni(PSK) and Lata-Tolma-Phagti(LTP) respectively.From the sampled sites, 451 species(11.8%, 53 trees;17.71%, 80 shrubs; and 70.51%, 318 herbs) have been recorded.In general, PSK site represented 73.6% and LTP site represented only 54.9% of the total plant species recorded in the study area.Out of total species in PSK site, native species contributed 59.6%(198spp.) and 24.7% species were endemic and near endemic.In LTP site, 66.5% species were Himalayan natives and 33.5% were endemic and near endemic.The species richness ranged from 4-23 ind ha-1(tree),3-18 ind ha-1(sapling), 5-19 ind ha-1(seedling) in PSK site and 4-18 ind ha-1(tree), 4-11 ind ha-1(sapling), 4-16 ind ha-1(seedling) in LTP site.The density ranged from 260-535 ind ha-1(tree), 145-633 ind ha-1(sapling), 1450-8170 ind ha-1(seedling) in PSK site and 599-1211 ind ha-1(tree), 70-951 ind ha-1(sapling),470-1665 ind ha-1(seedling) in LTP site.Species diversity for trees ranged from 0.73-3.37, saplings,0.64-2.67, seedlings, 0.70-2.51, shrubs, 1-2.34 and herbs, 2.02-3.21 in PSK site and 0.63-1.61, saplings,0.76-1.36, seedlings, 0.35-1.79, shrubs, 0.98-2.73 and herbs, 2.48-3.61 in LTP site.These recorded values were almost comparable with the studies conducted in sub-tropical, temperate and sub-alpine regions of the west Himalaya.In some cases the values were slightly higher than the reported values.The important communities with high conservation values have been identified based on different ecological parameters and species distribution.Among all the prioritized communities, Mixed Silver firRhododendron-Maple community in PSK site and Taxus wallichana- A.pindrow mixed community in LTP site supports maximum richness and density of native and endemic species.This study calls for development of adequate strategy and action plan for the conservation and management of habitats, species,and communities under changing climate and socioeconomic scenarios, so that sustainable utilization of the species could be ensured.

Ecological variables influencing the diversity and distribution of macrolichens colonizing Quercus leucotrichophora in Uttarakhand forest

Ecological variables play a significant role in determining the diversity and distribution of any living organism on earth. Lichens are not exceptional and are quite sensitive in comparison to other organisms; hence the present study focuses on the impact of ecological variables on the diversity and distribution of epiphytic macrolichens colonizing Quercus leucotrichophora across eight different sites(50 m × 50 m) in Thal Ke Dhar forest, Kumaun Himalaya, Uttarakhand, India. For sampling of macrolichens, 200 trees(25 trees from each site) of Q.leucotrichophora were selected from each site and five quadrats of 5 cm × 10 cm(1000 quadrats in totality) were drawn at the tree trunk. From all the sampled trees, a total of 54 species of epiphytic macrolichens belonging to 18 genera and five families were recorded. Various ecological variables, namely altitude, aspect, slope, diameter at breast height(DBH), and lopping percent(partial cutting of the twigs as disturbance), were also analyzed to investigate their influence on macrolichen species composition and distribution pattern in the study area. For the determination of relationships between these variables, statistical analysis, namely Pearson's Correlation Coefficient, Polynomial regression analysis and Principal Component Analysis(PCA)were performed. Out of all variables, lopping was significantly correlated to species richness of epiphytic macrolichens(0.712~*, p<0.05) and it was confirmed by Pearson's Correlation Coefficient.Despite of having high anthropogenic pressure or impact through lopping, the maximum number of macrolichen species was recorded at elevation 2267 meter above sea level(m asl). The present study revealed that besides other ecological variables,lopping practices can act as a key parameter incontrolling the diversity and distribution not only of epiphytic macrolichens but also of other life forms such as bryophytes, pteridophytes, insects, birds etc.and can be either negatively or positively correlated.

The present status and future prospects of forest vegetation in part of Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve(a World Heritage Site),India

We studied forest vegetation at Lata-Tolma- Phagti, a protected area and part of Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve in the western Himalaya. We analyzed community composition, population structure, regeneration patterns, and projected development of future compositional patterns. We sampled ten 10 x 10 m quadrat for tree species in each of 30 forest stands. We sampled shrubs in ten 5 x 5 m quadrat, and herbs in twenty 1 x 1 m quadrat within each forest stand. We recorded 248 plant species from 8 forest communities. Broadly the demographic profiles at study sites exhibited progressive structures suggesting long term persistence of the communities/species. Density--diameter distribution revealed greater proportions of seedlings and a significant decline （P 〈 0.05） in the proportion of trees in older age/size classes. Of the 23 recorded tree species, 13.0 % showed good, 52.2 % fair, 26.1% poor and 8.7 % no regeneration. Differences in regeneration by species are indicative of future foreststructure and dynamics. Assessment of changes in structure of forest types provides baseline data for development of priorities for conservation of other representative land- scapes in the reserve as well as in the Himalaya.