Variation in Forest Structure, Carbon stock and Regeneration status along an Altitudinal Gradient in Jaunpur Range, Mussoorie Forest Division, Uttarakhand
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.36808/if/2025/v151i7/170310Keywords:
Altitudinal gradient, Carbon, Mussoorie, Phytosociology, RegenerationAbstract
The management of forests is essential for the conservation of biodiversity and climate change. The present study aimed to anticipate how forest composition, regeneration, biomass production, and carbon storage vary in the altitudinal gradient in the Jaunpur Range, Mussoorie Forest Division of Garhwal Himalaya. It lies between 30°25.00′–30°33.00'N and 78°3.00'–078°15.00'E and represents a temperate forest. A total of 0.1ha. size 50 sample plots were laid down randomly at each site. Authors recorded 5 different types of forest along the altitudinal gradient. The results reveal that the maximum total biomass for the Pine stand is 198.84 Mgha-1 followed by Oak Stand 70.796 Mgha-1, Moru stand 27.12 Mgha-1, Cedrus stand 22.07 Mgha-1 and minimum 4.39 Mgha-1 for Cupressus stand. All the tree species, 48% showed poor regeneration, 33% showed no regeneration, 5% exhibited new regeneration, 9% represented good regeneration, and the remaining 5% indicated fair regeneration at the study site. Quercus leucotrichophora emerged as the dominant tree species at 1,800–2,000 masl, co-dominant at 1,300–1,500 masl after Pinus roxburghii, showcasing its ability to withstand biotic pressures and exhibit a wider ecological range. The highest tree diversity (H´ = 1.37) was observed at 2000-2200 masl.
References
Billings W.D. (1952). The environmental complex in relation to plant growth and distribution, The Quarterly Review of Biology, 27(3): 251-265. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/399022
Burman P.K.D., Launiainen S., Mukherjee S., Chakraborty S., Gogoi N., Murkute C. and Kumar K. (2021). Ecosystematmosphere carbon and water exchanges of subtropical evergreen and deciduous forests in India, Forest Ecology and Management, 495: 119371. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2021.119371
Curtis J.T. and McIntosh R.P. (1950). The interrelations of certain analytic and synthetic phytosociological characters, Ecology, 31(3): 434-455. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/1931497
Ellenberg D. and Mueller-Dombois D. (1974). Aims and methods of vegetation ecology (Vol. 547). John Wiley and Sons, New York, 1-547 pp.
FAO and UNEP (2020). The State of the World's Forests 2020. Forests, biodiversity, and people. Rome.
Forest Survey of India, (2021). India State of Forest Report 2021. Vol. 17. Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India: Forest Survey of India, Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change; 2021, 1-584 pp.
Gahlot T., Joshi P. and Rawat Y.S. (2020). Stand structure and regeneration status of tree species in four major forest types along an altitudinal gradient in Kumaun Himalaya, Uttarakhand, Tropical Plant Research, 7: 176-189. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22271/tpr.2020.v7.i1.023
Gairola S., Sharma C.M., Ghildiyal S.K. and Suyal S. (2011). Live tree biomass and carbon variation along an altitudinal gradient in moist temperate valley slopes of the Garhwal Himalaya (India), Current Science, 100(12): 1862-1870.
Haripriya G.S. (2000). Estimates of biomass in Indian forests, Biomass and bioenergy, 19(4): 245-258. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0961-9534(00)00040-4
IPCC (2008). 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories – A primer, Prepared by the National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Programme, Eggleston H.S., Miwa K., Srivastava N. and Tanabe K. (eds). Published: IGES, Japan.
Khan M.L., Rai J.P.N. and Tripathi R.S. (1987). Population structure of some tree species in disturbed and protected subtropical forests of north-east India, Acta OecologicaOecologia Applicata, 8(3): 247-255.
Khumbongmayum A.D., Khan M.L. and Tripathi R.S. (2006). Biodiversity conservation in sacred groves of Manipur, northeast India: population structure and regeneration status of woody species, Biodiversity and conservation, 15: 24392456. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-004-6901-0
Kolasa J. and Pickett S.T. (1991). Introduction: the heterogeneity of heterogeneity: a glossary. Ecological heterogeneity (Vol. 86). Springer-Verlag, New York, 1–23 pp. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-3062-5_1
Kumar A. and Ram J. (2005). Anthropogenic disturbances and plant biodiversity in forests of Uttaranchal, central Himalaya, Biodiversity and Conservation, 14: 309-331. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-004-5047-4
Kuuluvainen T. and Gauthier S. (2018). Young and old forest in the boreal: critical stages of ecosystem dynamics and management under global change, Forest Ecosystems, 5(1): 115. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40663-018-0142-2
Legendre P. and Fortin M.J. (1989). Spatial pattern and ecological analysis, Vegetation, 80: 107-138. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00048036
Liu Z., Ciais P., Deng Z., Lei R., Davis S.J., Feng S. and Schellnhuber H.J. (2020). Near-real-time monitoring of global CO emissions reveals the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, 2 Nature communications, 11(1): 5172. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-18922-7
Luna R.K. (2005) Plantation Trees. International Book Distributor. Dehradun, Uttaranchal (India).
Mayer M., Prescott C.E., Abaker W.E., Augusto L., Cécillon L., Ferreira G.W. and Vesterdal L. (2020). Tamm Review: Influence of forest management activities on soil organic carbon stocks: A knowledge synthesis, Forest Ecology and Management, 466: 118-127. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2020.118127
Mishra D., Mishra T.K. and Banerjee S.K. (1997). Comparative phyto-sociological and soil physico-chemical aspects between managed and unmanaged lateritic land, Annals of Forestry, 5(1): 16-25.
Misra R. (1968). Ecology Work Book. Oxford and IBH Publications, New Delhi.
Oosting H.J. (1956). The study of plant communities: An introduction of Plant Ecology (2nd edition). W. H. Freeman and Co. San Francisco and London, 1-440 pp.
Pan Y., Birdsey R.A., Fang J., Houghton R., Kauppi P.E., Kurz W.A. and Hayes D. (2011). A large and persistent carbon sink in the world's forests, Science, 333(6045): 988-993. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1201609
Pausas J.G. and Austin M.P. (2001). Patterns of plant species richness in relation to different environments: an appraisal, Journal of Vegetation Science, 12(2): 153-166. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/3236601
Pielou E.C. (1966). The measurement of diversity in different types of biological collections, Journal of theoretical biology, 13: 131-144. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-5193(66)90013-0
Raha D., Dar J.A., Pandey P.K., Lone P.A., Verma S., Khare P.K. and Khan M.L. (2020). Variation in tree biomass and carbon stocks in three tropical dry deciduous forest types of Madhya Pradesh, India, Carbon Management, 11(2): 109-120. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17583004.2020.1712181
Rai R.K., Scarborough H., Subedi N. and Lamichhane B. (2012). Invasive plants–Do they devastate or diversify rural livelihoods? Rural farmers' perception of three invasive plants in Nepal, Journal for nature conservation, 20(3): 170-176. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnc.2012.01.003
Rana K.P.S.R., Koshal A.K.K. and Bajpai A.B.B. (2023). Tree diversity and regeneration status in the different forest types of Kotla watershed (Uttarkashi, Uttarakhand, India), Ecological Questions, 34(1): 7-17. DOI: https://doi.org/10.12775/EQ.2023.001
Rawat D.S., Tiwari P., Das S.K. and Tiwari J.K. (2020). Tree species composition and diversity in montane forests of Garhwal Himalaya in relation to environmental and soil properties, Journal of Mountain Science, 17(12): 30973111. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-019-5761-8
Rawat S., Khanduri V.P., Singh B., Riyal M.K., Thakur T.K., Kumar M. and Cabral-Pinto M.M. (2022). Variation in carbon stock and soil properties in different Quercus leucotrichophora forests of Garhwal Himalaya, Catena, 213: 106-210. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2022.106210
Sahu S.C., Kumar M. and Ravindranath N.H. (2016). Carbon stocks in natural and planted mangrove forests of Mahanadi Mangrove Wetland, East Coast of India, Current Science, 110(12): 2253-2260. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs/v110/i12/2253-2260
Saxena A.K. and Singh J.S. (1984). Tree population structure of certain Himalayan forest associations and implications concerning their future composition, Vegetation, 58(2): 61-69. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00044928
Shahid M. and Joshi S.P. (2016). Phytosociological assessment and distribution patterns of tree species in the forests of Doon Valley, Shivalik hills of lower Himalaya, Tropical Plant Research, 3(2): 263-271.
Shannon C.E. and Wiener W. (1963). The mathematical theory of communities, University of Illinois press. Urbana, 1-117 pp.
Sharma H., Pant K.S., Bishist R., Gautam K.L., Dogra R., Kumar M. and Kumar A. (2023). Estimation of biomass and carbon storage potential in agroforestry systems of north western Himalayas, India, Catena, 225: 107009. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2023.107009
Sheikh M.A., Kumar M., Todaria N.P. and Pandey R. (2020). Biomass and soil carbon along altitudinal gradients in temperate Cedrus deodara forests in Central Himalaya, India: Implications for climate change mitigation, Ecological Indicators, 111: 106025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2019.106025
Simpson E.M. (1949). Measurement of diversity. Nat., 163: 688. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/163688a0
Streck C. and Scholz S.M. (2006). The role of forests in global climate change: whence we come and where we go, International Affairs, 82(5): 861-879. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2346.2006.00575.x
Sundriyal M. and Sundriyal D.C. (2001). Wild edible plants of the Sikkim Himalaya: Nutritive values of selected species, Economic botany, 55(3): 377-390. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02866561
Swamy P.S., Sundarapandian S.M., Chandrasekar P. and Chandrasekaran S. (2000). Plant species diversity and tree population structure of a humid tropical forest in Tamil Nadu, India, Biodiversity and Conservation, 9: 1643-1669. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026511812878
Tariyal N., Bijalwan A., Chaudhary S., Singh B., Dhanai C.S., Tewari S. and Thakur T.K. (2022). Crop production and carbon sequestration potential of Grewia oppositifolia-based traditional agroforestry systems in Indian Himalayan Region, Land, 11(6): 839. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/land11060839
Taylor D., Kent M. and Coker P. (1993). Vegetation description and analysis: a practical approach, The Geographical Journal, 159(2): 237. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/3451427
Ter Braak C.J. (1987). The analysis of vegetation-environment relationships by canonical correspondence analysis, Vegetation, 69: 69-77. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-4061-1_7
Tiwari A., Khanduri V.P., Rawat D., Singh B., Riyal M.K., Mishra G. and Kumar M. (2023). Vegetation composition, soil properties, and carbon stock of montane forests along a disturbance in the Garhwal Himalaya, India, Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, 6: 1193792. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2023.1193792
Tiwari O.P., Sharma C.M. and Bartwal H. (2022). Plant–soil interrelationship in subtropical forests of Garhwal Himalaya, India. Brazilian Journal of Botany, 45(2): 775-790. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40415-022-00798-0
UNFCCC, (2014). UNFCCC detailed annual report. http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2014.
Verma A.K. and Garkoti S.C. (2019). Population structure, soil characteristics and carbon stock of the regenerating banj oak forests in Almora, Central Himalaya, Forest Science and Technology, 15(3): 117-127. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/21580103.2019.1620135
Watt A.S. (1964). The community and the individual, The Journal of Animal Ecology, 52: 203-211. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2440
Downloads
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Unless otherwise stated, copyright or similar rights in all materials presented on the site, including graphical images, are owned by Indian Forester.
