书法欣赏

林加国,字谷雨,当代著名书法大师。1939年2月生于福建莆田。原海军某部政委、高级工程师;现系世界书画家协会总会理事、中华当代书画艺术研究会名誉主席等。他学书广涉历代诸家墨迹,书风雄浑苍劲,艺路孜孜以求,形成了儒雅洒脱的艺术风格。1998年4月他在北京中国美术馆成功地举办了个人书法艺术展,出版有《林加国书法艺术》、《庆中国共产党第十七次全国代表大会——书法名家林加国作品专辑》等。被评为'98全国百杰书画家'、'世纪功勋艺术家';荣获首届'中国文艺杰出成就奖'金奖,并授予'中国文艺终身成就艺术家'荣誉称号。

秋之枫

天清,气朗,明媚阳光。褪去炎夏襟衣,迎来秋风送爽,赏一树红枫,徜徉一湾池岸,踏歌寻欢。欲说还休,却道天凉好个秋!

Evaluation of land-use pattern change in West Bhanugach Reserved Forest,Bangladesh,using remote sensing and GIS techniques

A study was conducted to investigate the land-use pattern change over a period of 18 years （1988-2006） by using remote sens- ing and Geographical Information System （GIS） technologies, in the West Bhanugach Reserved Forest, a hill forest, in Sylhet Forest Divi- sion of Bangladesh, The images were processed using ERDAS Imagine software. Both supervised and unsupervised approaches were ap- plied and ground control points were collected using a GPS. Maps were prepared using GIS software. Results showed that vegetation cover drastically decreased from the year 1988 to 1996 （l 826 ha to l 714.85 ha）, but increased gradually from the year 1996 to 2006 （l 714.85 ha to l 847.83 ha） due to the initiation of co-management practice involving local communities. Change in bare land was inversely proportionate to the amount of vegetation cover changes unless any other land-uses were converted into bare land. The area of water bodies increased from the year 1988 to 1996 （307.67 ha to 379.53 ha）, but decreased from the year 1996 to 1997, then remained invariabile from the year 1997 to 2006. Some recommendations were also made for applying the RS and GIS techniques to study the land-use pattern change in the Bhanugach Reserved Forest and to create a GIS data base for the study area.

A review on the use of non-timber forest products in beauty-care in Bangladesh

This review describes the non-timber forest products （NTFPs） used for different aspects of beauty-care in Bangladesh on the basis of extensive literature survey. The diverse plant species, including used parts and using patterns for hair care, facial treatments and body care, were summarized in 13 tables. This paper accumulate the scattered knowledge regarding the use of plants in beauty-care in Bangladesh, to draw the extent of use of NTFPs in health care and to record the knowledge for assessing the possibilities of further implementation in herbal cosmetics industries. The structured knowledge can be used in policy making process for sustainable management of these valuable NTFPs leading to the conservation of the country＇s biological diversity. It is suggested that intensive field level research is necessary for securing sustainability of NTFPs.

Effects of stand characteristics on tree species richness in and around a conservation area of northeast Bangladesh

We investigated the effect of tree cover,forest patch and disturbances on tree species richness in a highly diverse conservation area of northeast Bangladesh.A systematic sampling protocol was adopted and 80 sub-plots from twenty five 1 ha plots were used for the vegetation survey.Linear regression analysis was performed to understand the effect of patch area,disturbances and tree cover on tree species richness.Ordination using Redundancy analysis(RDA) and Non-metric Multi Dimensional Scaling(NMDS) were also performed to explore the tree species compositional similarities along the stand characteristics gradient and locations of the sample plots.Our study revealed that,forest patch size has greater influence on species richness.Areas with medium level of disturbances have shown greater species richness.In constrained ordination the selected explanatory variables regulated the richness of common species.Our findings can be useful for better forest management and restoration of landscapes of conservation needs using ecologically important species.

Extent and Consequences of Tropical Forest Degradation： Successive Policy Options for Bangladesh

This paper is conceived at a time when new paradigms are sought for the development of a framework to deal with the problem of forest resources degradation. Deforestation in Bangladesh, has reached an alarming rate in recent years. The forest coverage of Bangladesh is one of the lowest and the deforestation rate is the highest of any country in the world. Coupled with the process of deforestation, flawed afforestration programmes have seriously exposed Bangladesh to environmental vulnerability. Considering this situation various strategies should be taken at different levels. The main objective of this paper is to suggest the possible steps that Bangladesh could halt and reverse the trend of deforestation. An extensive literature review and structured interviews of key informants have been used to collect relevant information to understand the reasons and consequences of forest degradation in the country. Based on the information gathered, this paper suggests some positive steps where the Government could be the main mitigating actor by implementing integrated programmes, which will also ensure mass awareness and wider impact.

Shifting cultivation effects on soil fungi and bacterial population in Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh

A study was conducted at two pair sites of Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh to find out the effects of shifting cultivation on soil fungi and bacterial population. The first pair of sites with shifting culti-vation and village common forest-managed by indigenous community was at Madhya Para in Rangamati district and the second pair of sites with the shifting cultivated land and village common forest at Ampu Para in Bandarban district of Chittagong Hill Tracts. At both the locations with two different land uses, soil textures in surface （0？10 cm） and sub-surface （10？20 cm） soils varied from sandy loam to sandy clay loam. Soil pH and moisture content were lower in shifting cultivated land com-pared to village common forest. The results also showed that both fungal and bacterial population in surface and subsurface soils was significantly （p ≤ 0.05） lower, in most cases, in shifting cultivated land compared to village common forest at both Madhya Para and Ampu Para. At Ranga-mati and Bandarban in shifting cultivated lands, Colletrotrichum and Fusarium fungi were absent and all the bacterial genus viz. Coccus, Bacillus and Streptococcus common in two different locations with dif-ferent land uses. Common identified fungi at both the land uses and locations were Aspergillus, Rhizopus, Trichoderma and Penicillium. Further study can be done on the other soil biota to understand the extent of environmental deterioration due to shifting cultivation.

Economics of the plant species used in homestead agroforestry on an offshore Sandwip Island of Chittagong District, Bangladesh

This study was performed in five villages of Sandwip Upazila, Chittagong district with a view to identify the tree resources, utilization pattern and economic return of major fruit and timber tree species. Information collected from a total of 60 households ranging from marginal, small, medium and large categories. Number of plant species increased with the increase of homestead area. A total of 33 plant species were recorded from the homegarden, of which 19 were fruit and 14 were timber tree species. Considerable number of vegetables was also planted under the shade of the homestead trees. The investment analysis showed that average benefit-cost ratios were greater than one, net present values were positive and internal rate of returns were more than 10%. Long term investment on horticulture and timber tree species is highly profitable if species like Artocarpus heterophyllus, Cocos nucifera, Tectona grandis and Swietenia macrophylla are planted.

Ecological and economical significance of homestead forest to the household of the offshore island in Bangladesh

An explanatory survey was conducted to assess the contribution of plant diversity to the ecological and socio-economic condition of the rural household in the offshore island of Bangladesh. Assessment was done by means of multistage random sampling. The homestead sizes of the study area were classified into 3 groups viz, large （〉0.25 ha）, medium （0.05-0.25 ha） and small （〈0.05 ha） based on the result obtained from a preliminary survey, and a total of 45 homesteads, 15 from each group, were selected randomly for the study. The average annual income from homestead＇s plant diversity varied from Tk 5730.00 （US$95.5） to Tk 17500.00 （US$291.67）. The rural people were mainly dependent on their homegarden for woodfuel and nutritional requirement as forest was unavailable in the island. The rural people here also cultivated the plant species as a safety measure from frequent cyclone. Constraints hindering the development of homestead plantation were identified and suggestions were given such as the adequate supply of seedlings of fast growing native species and conservation of endangered species to meet the demand of the household as well as to keep ecological balance.

Natural Resources Depletion in Hill Areas of Bangladesh:A Review

Hilly or mountainous terrain occupies around 12% of the area of Bangladesh.Natural resources associated with Bangladesh's hill are forest resources,biodiversity,minerals,and agricultural crops.Natural resources have been exploited in the recent four decades due to excessive clearing of hill forest cover,resulting in loss of species richness, impacts related to increased water flow variability, increased hill slope erosion and flooding intensity, and a gradual decrease in the extent of hill area in Bangladesh.This review explores the major causes and effects of depletion of natural resources by linking drivers,pressures and the related impacts.A review has been conducted to structure the effects on the hilly areas and describe the responses to minimize them in the associated DPSIR framework.Population growth has been identified as a major driver contributing to high deforestation rates.This may negatively effect agricultural productivity and increase the frequency of serious flooding.Slash and burn cultivation also impacts the regeneration of evergreen forests,which may accelerate soil erosion. Due to this and other factors,local people are facing a deficits of natural resources(food,fodder,fuel wood and water),which exacerbates the effects of poverty. Future research should try to facilitate decision making for sustainable utilization of natural resources management in the hilly areas of Bangladesh. Additional conservation measures should be developed to increase the resilience of ecosystems at national and regional levels.

Comparison of structural diversity of tree-crop associations in Peripheral and Buffer zones of Gachabari Sal forest area,Bangladesh

The structural diversity of different tree-crop associations were studied at Gachabari Sal forest area of Madhupur Garh on Buffer and Peripheral Zone during 2006. The total density, basal area of trees in the Buffer and Peripheral Zone were 155.5 trees·hm^(-2), 795.4 trees·hm^(-2) and 3.9 m2·hm-2, 5.8 m^2·hm^(-2), respectively. No regeneration and natural trees were found in Peripheral Zone and the Zone is totally occupied by exotic species where the Buffer Zone comprised of both natural and exotic trees. The Peripheral Zone belonged to younger and smaller trees whereas the Buffer Zone belonged to mixture of smaller, taller, younger and mature trees simultaneously. For the practicing of different agroforestry systems both Zones have lost their original characters of Sal forest.

Salafism in Azerbaijan

The article is written with the support of Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation and is based on the materials obtained in Azerbaijan relating to the spread of Salafism in Azerbaijan, the interviews with A. Shirinov, an associate professor at the faculty of Theology at Baku State University, S. Hasanli, a rector of Baku Islamic University and G Suleymanov, a leader of Azerbaijan Salafi community, which were recorded during the scientific visit in Azerbaijan.

Assessment of Plant-Driven Mineral Weathering in an Aggrading Forested Watershed in Subtropical China

Plant growth contributes to mineral weathering, but this contribution remains poorly understood. Weathering rates in an aggrading forested watershed in subtropical China were studied by means of geochemical mass balance. Rainfall, dry deposition, and streamwater were monitored from March 2007 to February 2012. Samples of vegetative components, rainfall, dry deposition, streamwater, representative soils, and parent rock were collected and determined for mass balance calculation and clarifying plant-driven weathering mechanisms stoichiometrically. Ignoring biomass, weathering rates of Ca^2＋, Mg^2＋, Na^＋, and Si were 25.6, 10.7, 2.8, and 51.0 kg ha^-1 year^-1, respectively. Taking biomass into consideration, weathering rates of Ca^2＋, Mg^2＋, and Si and the sum of weathering rates of Ca^2＋, Mg^2＋, Na^＋, K^＋, and Si were 2.6, 1.8, 1.2, and 1.5-fold higher than those ignoring biomass, respectively. This is attributed to plant-driven weathering due to the nutrient （e.g., Ca^2＋, Mg^2＋, and K^＋） absorption by vegetation and substantial proton production during assimilation of these nutrients, with the former acting as a pump for removing weathering products and the latter being a source of weathering agents solubilizing mineral components. The same pattern of weathering, i.e., higher rates of weathering with than without including biomass in mass balance calculation, was reported in previous studies; however, the extent to which plants drive weathering rates varied with vegetation types and climatic zones. The documented biological weathering driven by plants is expected to play a critical role in regulating nutrient cycling and material flows within the Earth＇s Critical Zone.