• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.29-37
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• 2013

The study was carried out in two different forest types viz., Banj oak and Chir pine forests to assess the variation in forest species composition and soil properties along altitudinal gradients in the Garhwal Himalayas. The results of the study showed that between the forests soil moisture was higher in Banj oak forest because of closed canopy and dense forest compared to Chir pine forest. The sand particles were reported higher in Banj oak forest which might be due to the addition of organic matter favouring coarse structure of soil, helping in holding maximum water in soils. However in the Chir pine forest low amount of soil organic matter and presence of clayey soil, develops soil compactness which reduces the penetration of water resulting in high soil bulk density. The higher accumulation of litter and presence of moisture in Banj oak forest favours higher nutrient level of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium compared to Chir pine forest. The soil organic carbon also reduced with increasing altitude at both gradients. While bulk density has reverse trend with soil organic carbon in both the forests at different peaks of same region. In Banj oak forest, the highest density and total basal cover was reported 1,100 tree $ha^{-1}$ and 58.86 $m^2\;ha^{-1}$ respectively. However, the highest values of density and total basal cover of Chir pine forest was 560 tree$ha^{-1}$ and 56.94 $m^2\;ha^{-1}$ respectively. The total density and basal cover of both the forests reduced with increasing altitude. The study concludes that Banj oak forest has better nutrient cycling ability, well developed foest floor and has a greater protective and productive features compared to the Chir pine forest which is without lower vegetation cover and having only pine litter accumulation which does not allow any other species to grow.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.91-108
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• 2015

The study investigates herbage communities along the altitudinal gradient in northwest Himalaya and highlights the effect of trees on its understory floristic diversity and phytosociology. The study was conducted in nine forests at three elevations viz., chir pine (Pinus roxburghii), mixed and khair (Acacia catechu) forests at elevation $E_1$ (850-1150 m), chir pine, mixed and ban oak (Quercus leucotrichophora) forests at elevation $E_2$ (1151-1600 m) and ban oak, mixed and chir pine forests at elevation $E_3$ (>1600 m) in a sub-watershed located in Solan district of Himachal Pradesh, India. These were compared grasslands located adjacent to forests. In all, 20 grass, 3 sedge, 2 forb and 4 legume species were recorded in study sites. Jaccard's coefficient of herbage vegetation was highest between chir pine forests and grasslands, and lowest in khair and ban oak forests. TWINSPAN dendrogram of herbage composition exhibited three subtypes with Apluda mutica, Arundinella nepalensis and Dichanthium annulatum as indicator species. Three groups of plant communities were identified on the basis of their moisture requirement. Peak density and basal area of herbage in forests and grasslands occurred by September. Density and basal area of herbage in grasslands at different elevations ranged from 649.6 to $1347.9tillers/m^2$ and 30.0 to $65.7cm^2/m^2$, respectively, while, in forests it varied from 351.2 to $1005.3tillers/m^2$ and 14.9 to $43.9cm^2/m^2$, respectively. Density and basal area of the herbage in plant communities decreased along the elevation. Under trees in forests the density of herbage decreased up to 77% and basal area up to 62% of their respective values in grasslands.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.37-46
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• 2020

Vegetation carbon sequestration and regeneration are the two major parameters of forest research. In this study, we analyzed the vegetation carbon stock and regeneration of community-managed pine plantation of Kathmandu, central Nepal. Vegetation data were collected from 40 circular plots of 10 m radius (for the tree) and 1m radius (for seedling) applying a stratified random sampling and nested quadrat method. The carbon stock was estimated by Chave allometric model and estimated carbon stock was converted into CO₂ equivalents. Density-diameter (d-d) curve was also prepared to check the regeneration status and stability of the plantation. A d-d curve indicates the good regeneration status of the forest with a stable population in each size class. Diversity of trees was very low, only two tree species Pinus roxburghii and Eucalyptus citriodora occurred in the sample plots. Pine was the dominant tree in terms of density, basal area, biomass, carbon stock and CO₂ stock than the eucalyptus. The basal area, carbon stock and CO₂ stock of forest was 33±1.0 ㎡ ha^-1, 108±5.0 Mg ha^-1 and 394±18 Mg ha^-1, respectively. Seedling and tree density of the plantation was 4,965 ha^-1 and 339 ha^-1 respectively. The forest carbon stock showed a positive relationship with biomass, tree diameter, height and basal area but no relationship with tree density. Canopy cover and tree diameter have a negative effect on seedling density and regeneration. In conclusion, the community forest has a stable population in each size class, sequestering a significant amount of carbon and CO₂ emitted from densely populated Kathmandu metro city as the forest biomass hence have a potentiality to mitigate the global climate change.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.264-274
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• 2020

Background: Climate change has altered the various ecosystem processes including forest ecosystem in Himalayan region. Although the high mountain natural forests including treelines in the Himalayan region are mainly reported to be temperature sensitive, the temperature-related water stress in an important growth-limiting factor for middle elevation mountains. And there are very few evidences on growth performance of planted forest in changing climate in the Himalayan region. A dendrochronological study was carried out to verify and record the impact of warming temperature tree growth by using the tree cores of Pinus roxburghii from Batase village of Dhulikhel in Central Nepal with sub-tropical climatic zone. For this total, 29 tree cores from 25 trees of P. roxburghii were measured and analyzed. Result: A 44-year long tree ring width chronology was constructed from the cores. The result showed that the radial growth of P. roxburghii was positively correlated with pre-monsoon (April) rainfall, although the correlation was not significant and negatively correlated with summer rainfall. The strongest negative correlation was found between radial growth and rainfall of June followed by the rainfall of January. Also, the radial growth showed significant positive correlation with that previous year August mean temperature and maximum temperature, and significant negative correlation between radial growth and maximum temperature (Tmax) of May and of spring season (March-May), indicating moisture as the key factor for radial growth. Despite the overall positive trend in the basal area increment (BAI), we have found the abrupt decline between 1995 and 2005 AD. Conclusion: The results indicated that chir pine planted population was moisture sensitive, and the negative impact of higher temperature during early growth season (March-May) was clearly seen on the radial growth. We emphasize that the forest would experience further moisture stress if the trend of warming temperatures continues. The unusual decreasing BAI trend might be associated with forest management processes including resin collection and other disturbances. Our results showed that the planted pine forest stand is sub-healthy due to major human intervention at times. Further exploration of growth climate response from different climatic zones and management regimes is important to improve our understanding on the growth performance of mid-hill pine forests in Nepal.