There is enough evidence to show that the forest biomass has decreased significantly in the Indian Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh. The government has responded through restrictive measures to check this decline. Using tree biomass as proxy for degradation, we assessed the current state of biomass within dominant land use types and examined its implications for sustainability. The highest above-ground mean tree biomass density of 1158 t·ha⁻¹ was recorded for the reserved forest followed by 728, 13, 11, 8, 5 and 3 t·ha⁻¹ in the protected forest, fallow land, cultivated-unirrigated land, grassland, orchard land and cultivated-irrigated land respectively. Of the total accessible biomass, only 0.31% was extracted annually by the local people for fuel, fodder and other uses. Though, the current level of extraction may be sustainable in the short run, insufficient regeneration is observed for long term sustainability. Forest biomass production was simulated for the next 30 years with a logistic growth model and the relative significance of input variables in influencing system behaviour was analysed through sensitivity analysis. The model results highlighted the declining forest resources in the long run. Positive response through appropriate government policies can, however, change the scenario for the better.

A new model was developed to predict forestland demand of China during the years of 2010–2050 in terms of the concept of forest ecosystem services. On the basis of the relationship between forest ecosystem services and classified forest management, we hypothesized that the ecological-forest provides ecological services, whereas commercial-forest supplies wood and timber production, and the influences of the growth of population, social-economic development target, forest management methods and the technology changes on forest resources were also taken into account. The prediction reveals that the demand of total forestland of China will be 244.8, 261.2 and 362.2 million ha by the year 2010, 2020 and 2050, respectively. The results demonstrated that China will be confronted with a shortage of forest resources, especially with lack of ecological-oriented forests, in the future. It is suggested that sustainable management of forest resources must be reinforced and more attention should be drown no enhancing the service function of forest ecosystem.

Eleven soil types, which can be identified and delineated using conventional soil survey procedures, were characterized for loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) productivity. Four 4-hectare study sites, each containing four measurement plots, were established for every soil type studied. In a stepwise multiple regression, both soil parent material (i.e. a combination of subsoil texture and geology) (p<0.001), and drainage class (p=0.006) were significant predictors of site index (tree age 25), and the overall linear regression model had an R ² value of 0.55. The extremes of soil parent material differed by 3.9 m site index (loamy subsoil on the Wicomico-Penholoway surfaces versus clayey subsoil on the Pamlico-Princess Anne surfaces). Each increment of drainage class differed by 0.7 m site index. For example, a poorly drained soil had 0.7 m lower site index than a somewhat poorly drained soil. For seven of the eleven soil types studied, there is greater than 80% probability that estimated mean site index is within ±0.8 m of the actual soil type mean site index. The other four soil types (labeled G, I, C and K) need to be either redefined or sampled more intensively. Two of these need to be subdivided in order to adequately characterize site quality, one based on geology (Soil type G) and one based on soil drainage class (Soil type I). Variation in soil drainage class and varying amounts of topsoil displaced into windrows were both factors influencing site quality variation of a third soil type (Soil type C). The wide variation in site index data for a fourth soil type (Soil type K) appeared to be due, in part, to sampling study locations and individual measurement plots with less than optimum bedding and/or artificial drainage. Soil parent material (subsoil texture and geology) along with drainage class were found to be important factors influencing site quality on the South Carolina Lower Coastal Plain.

A study was conducted to investigate the land-use pattern change over a period of 18 years (1988–2006) by using remote sensing and Geographical Information System (GIS) technologies, in the West Bhanugach Reserved Forest, a hill forest, in Sylhet Forest Division of Bangladesh. The images were processed using ERDAS Imagine software. Both supervised and unsupervised approaches were applied 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 (1 826 ha to 1 714.85 ha), but increased gradually from the year 1996 to 2006 (1 714.85 ha to 1 847.83 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 study was conducted on high-density young plantations of three native trees (Albizia lebbeck, Albizia. procera and Tectona grandis) and one native woody grass species (Dendrocalamus strictus) to examine their influence on total nutrient concentrations of coal mine spoil during early phase of plantation establishment. Soil samples were analyzed for total organic carbon (SOC), Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN) and phosphorus (TP) at spoil depths of 0–10 and 10–20 cm under 4-and 5-year-old plantations of all species. A significant effect on concentrations of total SOC, TKN and TP were observed due to plantation age, species and soil depth. However, corresponding concentrations (SOC, TKN and TP) were substantially lower at spoil profile of 10–20 cm. In comparison, plantation of A. lebbeck showed greater SOC and nutrient concentrations followed by D. strictus, A. procera and T. grandis, respectively. Therefore, present study clearly indicates attributing qualities of plantation towards improving redeveloping soil of mine spoil varied with species.

The growing stock assessment of three different teak forest stands (Tuirial: 500 m asl, Sairang: 200 m asl and Phunchawng: 550 m asl) was done in 2006 in Mizoram, India. Five diameter classes were arbitrarily established for knowing the volume attribute data and population structure, viz. a (10–20 cm), b (20–30 cm), c (30–40 cm), d (40–50 cm), and e (50–60 cm). Results revealed that the density of the individuals among the studied stands varied from 280 stems/ha to 620 stems/ha. The average diameter of all the individuals ranged between 27.48 cm and 35.43 cm. Similarly, the average height was oscillated between 17.87 m and 22.24 m. The total basal area was recorded between 24.28 m²·ha⁻¹ and 45.80 m²·ha⁻¹. The maximum and minimum values of total growing stock under all the diameter classes were 669.01 m³·ha⁻¹ and 284.7 m³·ha⁻¹, respectively. The representation of population structure of different stands explained that the perpetuation of this species was ensured for a quite long time.

The leaves of 12 species (Acacia auriculiformis, Albizzia procera, Dalbergia sissoo, Gliricidia maculata, Leucaena leucocephala, Samanea saman, Azadirachta indica, Eucalyptus hybrida, Gmelina arborea, Michelia champaca, Morus alba, and Tectona grandis) of Multipurpose trees and shrubs (MPTs) grown in the agroforestry arboretum were evaluated for their nutritional characteristics in terms of proximate composition, cell wall constituents, total tannins, major (Ca and P) and trace minerals (Fe, Cu, Zn, Mn and Co), in vitro dry matter and organic matter digestibility (IVDMD and IVOMD) and metabolisable energy (ME) values. There were significant (P<0.01) variations among MPTs for all parameters studied. The average values of (92.02±0.30)%, (16.00±0.74)%, (3.05±0.13)%, (18.97±1.07)%, (54.00±1.12)% and (7.98 ± 0.30)% (DM basis) were observed for OM (organic matter), CP (crude protein), EE (ether extract), CF (crude fibre), NFE (nitrogen-free extract) and total ash, respectively. Leguminous trees had high CP compared to non-leguminous ones (18.30% vs 13.70%). The mean values for cell wall constituents viz., NDF (neutral detergent fibre), ADF (acid detergent fibre), hemi cellulose, cellulose and ADL (acid detergent lignin) were found to be (52.48±1.05)%, (31.72±0.97)%, (20.76±0.88)%, (16.97±0.70)% and (9.57±0.62)%, respectively. The total tannin contents averaged (4.22±0.32)%. The ratio of Ca to P was quite wider. The levels of Fe and Mn were adequate to rich in all the MPTs while many of the tree species possessed P, Cu, Zn and Co level below the critical limits for the animals. The average IVDMD and IVOMD values were found to be (48.96±1.30)% and (50.69±1.36)%, respectively. The ME value averaged (6.95±0.11) MJ·kg⁻¹ DM. The CP content had significant positive correlation with IVDMD, IVOMD and ME values while NDF, ADF, ADL and total tannins showed negative correlations with these three parameters. Based on the results, Leucaena Leucocephala could be considered as good quality fodder as it had the highest level of IVDMD/IVOMD (65.20%/67.66%) and ME (7.95 MJ·kg⁻¹ DM) while G. maculata, M. alba, A. indica, D. sissoo and S. saman were of medium type and rest of poor quality.

The relationship between eco-hydrographic benefit of forest vegetation and climatic environmental factors is one of the focuses in the research on environmental protection and ecosystem countermeasures in Wetland. The runoff, sediment and soil moisture rate dynamics in Robinia pseudoacacia plantation and its clearcut area were investigated in the natural runoff experiment plots in Yellow River Delta Wetland, Shandong Province, China. The correlation of height increment of R. pseudoacacia with nine climate factors such as light, water, heat, etc. was analyzed by stepwise regression analysis. The results showed that the amounts of runoff and sediment in clearcut area of R. pseudoacacia were 53.9%–150.8% and 172.8%–387.1% higher than that in Robinia pseudoacacia plantation, respectively. The runoff peak value in R. pseudoacacia stand was obviously lower than that in clerarcut area, meantime, the occurrence of runoff peak in R. pseudoacacia stand was 25 min later than in its clerarcut area. The soil moisture rates in R. pseudoacacia stand and its clearcut varied periodically with annual rainfall precipitation in both dry season and humid season. The annual mean soil moisture rate in R. pseudoacacia stand was 23.3%–25.6% higher than that in its clearcut area. Meanwhile, a regression model reflecting the correlation between the height increment of R. pseudoacacia and climatic factors was developed by stepwise regression procedure method. It showed that the light was the most important factor for the height increment of R. pseudoacacia, followed by water and heat factors.

A mangrove endophytic fungus 1403 isolated from the South China Sea Coast, which is able to produce griseofulvin and anthracenediones under submerged fermentation, was compared with Fusarium genus with the similar morphological characters such as elongated, microconidium-producing conidiophores, ovoid microconidia and straight to slightly curved macroconidia. It was found that the fungus 1403 resembles pathogenic F. verticillioides (teleomophy Gibberella moniliforme) in the production of false head or chains and abundant microconidia on the aerial mycelium, but different in the occasional formation of polyphialides with relatively long as well as short monophialides, in its typical coiled hyphae and mycelia fusion. Through maximum Parsimony and Bayesian analyses, the fungus 1403 was further compared with some similar Fusarium species. The results indicated that this endophyte was identified as Fusarium proliferatum based on the analyses of partial 18S and 28S rDNA genes, ITS region, and EF-1α gene.

Symptoms of leaf necrosis or chlorosis of bamboo induced by Typhoon 0613 (T0613) were analyzed using RGB image analysis in Yamaguchi city, Japan. Results showed a closely positive relationship between Green/Red (G/R) value for indoor taking images of bamboo individual leaves and chlorophyll meter value (SPAD) with regression coefficient of 0.961. The relation between G/R value of room taking images and Necrotic Area Percentage (NAP) for bamboo individual leaves showed an inverse logistic function relationship, with the correlated coefficient equaling to 0.958. Both leaf chlorosis and necrosis can be quantitatively estimated by RGB image analysis. Moreover, the variance of Green/Luminance (G/L) value for the same leaf was less than that of G/R for images taken in the conditions with large light difference, especially for green leaves. G/L value also exhibited a closer relationship with SPAD value of leaves with chlorosis than that of G/R values at the same condition. The relationship between G/L value for bamboo canopies and the Distance from Coastline (DC) was also closer than that of the G/R value for the images taken at field sites with big light difference.

The forest stand database of Bilahe Forestry Bureau, Inner Mongolia of China was taken as an example to demonstrate the whole process of building a temporal geodatabase by means of reengineering. The process was composed of establishing a conceptual data model from the initial database, constructing a logical database by means of mapping, and building a temporal geodatabase with the help of Computer-Aided Software Engineering (CASE) tool and Unified Markup Language (UML). The results showed that as the reengineered forest stand geodatabase was dynamic, it could easily store the historical data and answer time related questions by Structured Query Language (SQL), meanwhile, it maintains the integrity of database and eliminates the redundancy.

Cationized pulp fibers (CPF) were prepared by the adsorption of a novel biodegradable cationic ester quaternary ammonium salt (31441) on bleached softwood kraft pulp fibers. The optimized conditions for the CPF preparation were: 4% of 31441 (based on oven-dry pulp), 80°C and 30 min. The CPF was characterized by FT-IR, SEM and XPS. Experimental results showed that the CPF improved the retention of precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC) filler significantly. With 0.9% CPF (based on oven-dry pulp), the retention of PCC increased from 57.53% to 72.21%. The physical properties of paper were also slightly improved. The tensile strength and burst strength of the paper with CPF were higher than those with CPAM. CPF addition had no effect on the stock drainage.

The 18 species of bird studied originally are known to belong to muscicapids, robins and sylviids of passerines, but some disputations are always present in their classification systems. In this experiment, phylogenetic relationships of 18 species of passerines were studied using Adenylate Kinase Intron 5 (AK5) sequences and DNA techniques. Through sequences analysis in comparison with each other, phylogenetic tree figures of 18 species of passerines were constructed using Neighbor-Joining (NJ) and Maximum-Parsimony (MP) methods. The results showed that sylviids should be listed as an independent family, while robins and flycatchers should be listed into Muscicapidae. Since the phylogenetic relationships between long-tailed tits and old world warblers are closer than that between long-tailed tits and parids, the long-tailed tits should be independent of paridae and be categorized into aegithalidae. Muscicapidae and Paridae are known to be two monophylitic families, but Sylviidae is not a monophyletic group. AK5 sequences had better efficacy in resolving close relationships of interspecies among intrageneric groups.

A study was conducted to explore the traditional utilization pattern and indigenous management practices of wild date palm (Phoenix sylvestris Roxb) in the rural agrarian regions of Bangladesh. A multistage sampling method with 10% intensity and a semi-structured questionnaire were used for the study. The farmers manage the palm mainly for sap production with which sugar based secondary goods are manufactured. The sap is either used fresh as drink or after some sort of processing as molasses and/or alcoholic beverage. Seven diversified sites support the palm as its habitat and most palms (20.40%) occur in orchards. Besides growing naturally, the palm is also established in orchards using the wildings as the staple planting material. Although the medium category farmers own most of the palms (33%), a considerable portion (28.68%) of it is managed by the landless farmers, who earn a substantial livelihood from the palms. The farmers practice their own indigenous wisdom in every stage of the palm’s maintenance from planting through tapping for sap collection to the processing of products. If managed more scientifically on a sustainable basis with the collaboration of farmers’ indigenous knowledge, this familiar palm could be able to support the rural economy of the country to a great extent. Side by side, it would also be able to contribute to the richness of biodiversity in the region.

Twenty-four provenances of two species (Azadirachta siamensis and Azadirachta indica) have been introduced to China from South Asia, Southeast Asia and Africa Since 1995. This paper summarizes the researches on the introduction and planting of Azadirachta indica and analyzes the morphological, phenological characteristics, the growth rhythm, pollinating and seed yielding features of the introduced 24 provenances of the two species as well as the variations of filial generation plants. The experiments showed that most of the provenances of A. indica have normal growth and can blossom and fruit in the dry-hot valleys with tropical climate conditions in Yunnan Province, China. The normal regions for A. indica were classified and the selection criteria for superior plants were put forward in this paper, moreover, the major contents of industry planning and technical approaches for A. indica plantation establishment were discussed and the countermeasures to reduce the neem-based pesticide products were also proposed.

The effect of Thidiazuron (TDZ), basal media and light quality on adventitious shoot regeneration from in vitro cultured stem of Populus alba×P. berolinensis were determined to establish a high efficiency shoot regeneration system from stem explants of P. alba×P. berolinensis. Stems of Populus alba×P. berolinensis were collected from cultured shoots in vitro derived from dormancy buds of 3-year-old seedlings. The stem explants were cultured on MS medium containing 0.02-mg·L⁻¹ NAA (naphthaleneacetic acid), and 0.1, 0.3, 0.5 and 1.0 mg·L⁻¹ concentrations of TDZ to determine the effect of TDZ on shoot regeneration. Three basal media, i.e. MS, woody plant medium (WPM) and B5, were used to test their influences of different media on adventitious shoot regeneration. Green, red, blue and yellow plastic films in comparison with florescent light as control were used to observe their effects on shoot regeneration. The results showed that different concentrations of TDZ had an evident influence on shoot regeneration. Lower concentration of TDZ (0.1 mg·L⁻¹) resulted in more adventitious shoot regeneration and higher concentration of TDZ (>0.1 mg·L⁻¹) inhibited shoot regeneration. Among different media, MS medium exhibited a high efficiency for shoot regeneration, followed by WPM medium, while B5 medium inhibited shoot regeneration. Normal light and yellow light exhibited better effects on shoot regeneration, compared with other light.

This paper deals with a new type of multi-angle remotely sensed data—CHRIS (the Compact High Resolution Imaging Spectrometer), by using rational function models (RFM) and rigorous sensor models (RSM). For ortho-rectifying an image set, a rigorous sensor model-Toutin’s model was employed and a set of reported parameters including across track angle, along track angle, IFOV, altitude, period, eccentricity and orbit inclination were input, then, the orbit calculation was started and the track information was given to the raw data. The images were ortho-rectified with geocoded ASTER images and digital elevation (DEM) data. Results showed that with 16 ground control points (GCPs), the correction accuracy decreased with view zenith angle, and the RMSE value increased to be over one pixel at 36 degree off-nadir. When the GCPs were approximately chosen as in Toutin’s model, a RFM with three coefficients produced the same accuracy trend versus view zenith angle while the RMSEs for all angles were improved and within about one pixel.