Increase of forest carbon biomass due to community forestry management in Nepal

Community forest management helps in mitigating deforestation and forest degradation by addressing the negative aspects of rural livelihoods such as poverty and social exclusion.It is important in regulating global climate by encouraging sequestration of carbon in shoots,roots and soils.We studied the status of community forest management,forest resource harvest and carbon stocks in two community forests of the mid hill region of central and western Nepal.The study was based on primary and secondary data collected through carbon stock measurement from field visits and allometric equations,household surveys,focus group discussions,key informant interviews,and review of past studies.Socioeconomic variables such as gender,age group,livestock and landholding status were related to resource utilization,conservation,and management of community forest.Forest resources such as timber,firewood,fodder and leaf litter were harvested in sustainable ways.People were involved in forest thinning,co-management meetings,guarding and planting trees for forest conservation and management.Density and carbon stock of trees increased gradually in comparison to a previous study.We recommend further research on other community forests for more accurate and better results.

A Short Note on Linkage of Climatic Records between Terai and Mid-mountain of Central Nepal

The steep North to South (N-S) gradient and complex topography markssignificant variations in the spatial and temporal patterns of climatic variationsurrounding within a few distances in the Nepal Himalayas. Hence,to validate climatic linkages between the stations under two distinct topographicconditions, the study examines the observational climatic data from106m a.s.l. and 1801m a.s.l., as a representative station from a plain andhilly area. Different statistical tools including Pearson correlation analysisand a best-fit regression model were applied to analyze climate data. Theanalysis of 13129 daily average temperature records and 13147 daily totalprecipitation records showed that the variation in their sum and average ofdaily, five days, ten days, and monthly values between the stations in thedifferent elevations marked significantly.Despite these variations, temperaturerecords are measured to be consistent in different altitudes and stronglycorrelated. The precipitation data showed a comparatively weaker correlation.The coefficients (0.85-1.6) with R2>0.50 in the regression models forthe lower elevation and higher elevation station in the mid-mountain regionexcept for the monsoon season. It indicated a similar fluctuation of temperaturebetween these two stations in the respective area. The strong degreeof association and the change of climatic parameters in different rangeand elevations indicate the possibilities of using climatic data from Terai torepresent the Mid-mountain region of central Nepal.

Distribution and Habitat Preference of Red Panda (<i>Ailurus fulgens fulgens</i>) in Jumla District, Nepal

Reliable and sufficient information regarding status, distribution and habitat preference of red panda (Ailurus fulgens fulgens) is lacking in Nepal. The research activities on red panda in the mid-western Nepal are very limited, so the status of red panda in the region is quite unknown. The study conducted during May, 2013 in three Village Development Committees (VDCs) namely Godhemahadev, Malikathata and Tamti of Jumla district was an important step for providing vital information including distribution and habitat preference of this species. The study included the reconnaissance, key informants survey, interviews and consultation for the most potential area identification, opportunistic survey comprising the direct observation and indirect sign count method for the presence and distribution, habitat assessment consisting vegetation sampling and ocular estimation. The study revealed the presence of red panda in three forests namely Bahirepatan, Imilchadamar and Tyakot of Godhemahadev, Tamti and Malikathata VDCs respectively. The species was found distributed between 2880 and 3244 m with an average dropping encounter rate of 1.04 per hour of searching effort and 12 pellets per dropping. Red panda mostly preferred the habitat in the elevation range of 2900 - 3000 m with southwest facing steep slopes (36? - 45?), associated with water sources at the distance of ≤100 m. Trees such as Acer spp., Betula utilis and Quercus semecarpifolia, shrub species of Elaeagnus parvifolia, Drepanostachyum spp. and Jasminum humile, and the herbs like Polygonatum cirrhifolium, Fragaria nubicola and Galium asperifolium were found to be the most preferred species by red panda. The red panda preferred the habitat with dense crown coverage (>20% - 100%) and 31% - 50% ground cover. Fallen logs (39%) were the most preferred substrate used for defecation.

A Common Fixed Point Theorem for Two Pairs of Mappings in Dislocated Metric Space

Dislocated metric space differs from metric space for a property that self distance of a point needs not to be equal to zero. This property plays an important role to deal with the problems of various disciplines to obtain fixed point results. In this article, we establish a common fixed point theorem for two pairs of weakly compatible mappings which generalize and extend the result of Brain Fisher [1] in the setting of dislocated metric space with replacement of contractive constant by contractive modulus for which continuity of mappings is not necessary and compatible mappings by weakly compatible mappings.

Modeling measles transmission in adults and children:Implications to vaccination for eradication

Despite the availability of successful vaccines,measles outbreaks have occurred frequently in recent years,presumably due to the lack of proper vaccination implementation.Moreover,measles cases in adult groups,albeit small in number,indicate that the previously neglected adult group may need to be brought into vaccine coverage to achieve WHO's goal of measles eradication from the globe.In this study,we develop a novel transmission dynamics model to describe measles cases in adults and children to evaluate the role of adult infection in persistent measles cases and vaccination programs for eradication.Analysis of our model,validated by measles cases from outbreaks in Nepal,provides the vaccination reproduction number(conditions for measles eradication or persistence)and the role of contact network size.Our results highlight that while children are primary targets for measles outbreaks,a small number of infections in adults may act as a reservoir for measles,causing obstacles to eradication.Furthermore,our model analysis shows that while impactful controls can be achieved by children-focused vaccines,a combined adult-child vaccination program may help assert eradication of the disease.