Mehraj A. Sheikh

Altitudinal variation in soil organic carbon stock in coniferous subtropical and broadleaf temperate forests in Garhwal Himalaya

BackgroundThe Himalayan zones, with dense forest vegetation, cover a fifth part of India and store a third part of the country reserves of soil organic carbon (SOC). However, the details of altitudinal distribution of these carbon stocks, which are vulnerable to forest management and climate change impacts, are not well known.ResultsThis article reports the results of measuring the stocks of SOC along altitudinal gradients. The study was carried out in the coniferous subtropical and broadleaf temperate forests of Garhwal Himalaya. The stocks of SOC were found to be decreasing with altitude: from 185.6 to 160.8 t C ha-1 and from 141.6 to 124.8 t C ha-1 in temperature (Quercus leucotrichophora) and subtropical (Pinus roxburghii) forests, respectively.ConclusionThe results of this study lead to conclusion that the ability of soil to stabilize soil organic matter depends negatively on altitude and call for comprehensive theoretical explanation

Forest carbon stocks and fluxes in physiographic zones of India

BackgroundReducing carbon Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) is of central importance to combat climate change. Foremost among the challenges is quantifying nations carbon emissions from deforestation and degradation, which requires information on forest carbon storage. Here we estimated carbon storage in Indias forest biomass for the years 2003, 2005 and 2007 and the net flux caused by deforestation and degradation, between two assessment periods i.e., Assessment Period first (ASP I), 2003-2005 and Assessment Period second (ASP II), 2005-2007.ResultsThe total estimated carbon stock in Indias forest biomass varied from 3325 to 3161 Mt during the years 2003 to 2007 respectively. There was a net flux of 372 Mt of CO2 in ASP I and 288 Mt of CO2 in ASP II, with an annual emission of 186 and 114 Mt of CO2 respectively. The carbon stock in Indias forest biomass decreased continuously from 2003 onwards, despite slight increase in forest cover. The rate of carbon loss from the forest biomass in ASP II has dropped by 38.27% compared to ASP I.ConclusionWith the Copenhagen Accord, India along with other BASIC countries China, Brazil and South Africa is voluntarily going to cut emissions. India will voluntary reduce the emission intensity of its GDP by 20-25% by 2020 in comparison to 2005 level, activities like REDD+ can provide a relatively cost-effective way of offsetting emissions, either by increasing the removals of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere by afforestation programmes, managing forests, or by reducing emissions through deforestation and degradation.

Ethnomedicinal and ecological status of plants in Garhwal Himalaya, India

BackgroundThe northern part of India harbours a great diversity of medicinal plants due to its distinct geography and ecological marginal conditions. The traditional medical systems of northern India are part of a time tested culture and honored still by people today. These traditional systems have been curing complex disease for more than 3,000 years. With rapidly growing demand for these medicinal plants, most of the plant populations have been depleted, indicating a lack of ecological knowledge among communities using the plants. Thus, an attempt was made in this study to focus on the ecological status of ethnomedicinal plants, to determine their availability in the growing sites, and to inform the communities about the sustainable exploitation of medicinal plants in the wild.MethodsThe ecological information regarding ethnomedicinal plants was collected in three different climatic regions (tropical, sub-tropical and temperate) for species composition in different forest layers. The ecological information was assessed using the quadrate sampling method. A total of 25 quadrats, 10 × 10 m were laid out at random in order to sample trees and shrubs, and 40 quadrats of 1 × 1 m for herbaceous plants. In each climatic region, three vegetation sites were selected for ecological information; the mean values of density, basal cover, and the importance value index from all sites of each region were used to interpret the final data. Ethnomedicinal uses were collected from informants of adjacent villages. About 10% of inhabitants (older, experienced men and women) were interviewed about their use of medicinal plants. A consensus analysis of medicinal plant use between the different populations was conducted.ResultsAcross the different climatic regions a total of 57 species of plants were reported: 14 tree species, 10 shrub species, and 33 herb species. In the tropical and sub-tropical regions, Acacia catechu was the dominant tree while Ougeinia oojeinensis in the tropical region and Terminalia belerica in the sub-tropical region were least dominant reported. In the temperate region, Quercus leucotrichophora was the dominant tree and Pyrus pashia the least dominant tree. A total of 10 shrubs were recorded in all three regions: Adhatoda vasica was common species in the tropical and sub-tropical regions however, Rhus parviflora was common species in the sub-tropical and temperate regions. Among the 33 herbs, Sida cordifolia was dominant in the tropical and sub-tropical regions, while Barleria prionitis the least dominant in tropical and Phyllanthus amarus in the sub-tropical region. In temperate region, Vernonia anthelmintica was dominant and Imperata cylindrica least dominant. The consensus survey indicated that the inhabitants have a high level of agreement regarding the usages of single plant. The index value was high (1.0) for warts, vomiting, carminative, pain, boils and antiseptic uses, and lowest index value (0.33) was found for bronchitis.ConclusionThe medicinal plants treated various ailments. These included diarrhea, dysentery, bronchitis, menstrual disorders, gonorrhea, pulmonary affections, migraines, leprosy. The ecological studies showed that the tree density and total basal cover increased from the tropical region to sub-tropical and temperate regions. The species composition changed with climatic conditions. Among the localities used for data collection in each climatic region, many had very poor vegetation cover. The herbaceous layer decreased with increasing altitude, which might be an indication that communities at higher elevations were harvesting more herbaceous medicinal plants, due to the lack of basic health care facilities. Therefore, special attention needs to be given to the conservation of medicinal plants in order to ensure their long-term availability to the local inhabitants. Data on the use of individual species of medicinal plants is needed to provide an in-depth assessment of the plants availability in order to design conservation strategies to protect individual species.

Carbon stock in influenced forest of Srinagar hydroelectric project, Uttarakhand, India

In the Uttarakhand Himalaya, hydroelectric projects are the major source of power generation and subsequently the source of income. The dam constructions in the hills of the Uttarakhand are diminishing large areas of forest cover. The present study was focused on the estimation of tree and soil carbon stocks in the influenced forest (close to the submergence forest) that is likely to be affected by the Alaknand hydroelectric river project, Srinagar in Uttarakhand, soon after its completion. For the study, five different forest sites, i.e., site-I, site-II, site-III, site-IV and site-IV, were selected from an area of approximately 12 km from the main reservoir area along the Alaknanda against the river flow. Among the forest sites, above- and belowground carbon density of forests was highest in site-II because of the highest number of tree species. The lowest number of tree species was in site-I, which was close to the dam construction area, and therefore had the highest percentage forest cover destruction compared to other sites. Soil organic carbon density was reported highest in site-IV and lowest in site-I. But the total carbon density of forest sites was reported highest (293.51 t ha−1) in site-II and lowest (109.82 t ha−1) in site-I. Thus, site-II was reported most productive in terms of carbon sequestration.

Carbon stock variation of Pinus roxburghii Sarg. Forest along altitudes of Garhwal Himalaya, India

The present study was undertaken in Pinus roxburghii forest along three different altitudes i.e., 1100, 1300 and 1500 meter above mean sea level of Garhwal Himalaya to understand the effect of altitudes on carbon stocks (live trees and soil) in Pinus roxburghii forest. Tree density of this forest ranged between 590 tree ha−1 (upper altitude) to 640 tree ha−1 (lower altitude). The highest total carbon density (TCD) of above and belowground carbon was 66.33 ± 29.92 Mg ha−1 at lower altitude followed by 57.64 ± 16.75 Mg ha−1 in middle altitude and 52.92 ± 6.52 Mg ha−1 in upper altitude. Soil organic carbon was highest (33.20 ± 2.77 Mg ha−1) at lower altitude followed by middle (22.61 ± 7.17 Mg ha−1) and upper altitude (12.65 ± 6.10 Mg ha−1). Total carbon stock (trees + soil) of Pinus roxburghii forest was maximum (99.53 Mg ha−1) at lower altitude and minimum (65.57 Mg ha−1) at upper altitude.

Carbon sequestration potential of nitrogen-fixing tree stands.

Abstract We compared the C storage of two nitrogen-fixing trees in mixed and monospecific plantations to investigate the C sequestration potential after 10 years of their establishment. The study was carried out in three types of plantation, Dalbergia sissoo Roxb. ex DC. pure (P1DS), Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit pure (P2LL) and mixed plantation of D. sissoo and L. leucocephala (P3DS.LL). The results of the study indicated that, P3DS.LL sequestered 34.30 ± 0.24 t yr-1 ha-1 CO2 compared to 27.35 ± 0.19 t yr-1 ha-1 in P1DS and 19.81 ± 0.44 t yr-1 ha-1 in P2LL. Total carbon storage was also maximum in P3DS.LL (93.47 ± 0.67 t ha-1) followed by P1DS (74.54 ± 0.53 t ha-1) and P2LL (53.98 ± 1.21 t ha-1). This indicates that L. leucocephala has synergetic effect with D. sissoo to enhance the carbon sequestration potential when interplanted together. The study revealed that mixed plantation of N-fixer trees have potential to sequester more carbon than same species in monoculture. The study concluded that in reforestation or afforestation program the synergic effect of N-fixer trees can be helpful projects to offset more C emissions.