Volume 6 Special Issue 1 2012
Forest Restoration

ISBN 978-4-903313-89-4

How to reference: Daniels SE, Emborg J, Walker GB (2012) Seeing the Forest for the Trees: Managing Social Conflict and Forest Restoration. In: Xi W-M (Ed) Forest Restoration. Tree and Forestry Science and Biotechnology 6 (Special Issue 1), 1-6

Guest Editor

Weimin Xi

Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA

http://forestandwildlifeecology.wisc.edu//

CONTENTS AND ABSTRACTS

Steven E. Daniels (USA), Jens Emborg (Denmark), Gregg B. Walker (USA) Seeing the Forest for the Trees: Managing Social Conflict and Forest Restoration (pp 1-6)

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Invited Mini-Review: This paper examines the role that social conflict is likely to play in forest restoration projects. A definition of conflict as “perceived goal interference among interdependent parties” serves as a point of departure for the discussion, and the nature of forest restoration conflict is systematically examined by focusing on each aspect of the definition: perceptions, goal interference, the parties, and their interdependence. Agencies undertaking restoration projects are encouraged to adopt a discourse orientation, wherein they recognize that 1) their public involvement efforts are creating a discourse that can incorporate a wide array of values and voices and 2) groups may create competing discourses if they feel that the agency’s process disenfranchises them.

Hai Ren, Hongfang Lu, Jun Wang, Nan Liu (China), Qinfeng Guo (USA) Forest Restoration in China: Advances, Obstacles, and Perspectives (pp 7-16)

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Invited Review: Because of the prolonged history of disturbance caused by intense human activities, restoration in China has been a major task facing many ecologists and land managers. There are six major forest types in China: cold temperate coniferous forest, temperate coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forest, warm temperate deciduous broad-leaved forest, subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest, tropical rainforest and monsoon forest, and Qinghai-Tibet Plateau alpine vegetation. All of them suffer from degradation due to human interference and various methods and specific techniques have been applied in their restoration. As ecology research on succession is maturing and theories and models on restoration are becoming established, restorationists and ecologists are optimistic. In addition to reporting on the history and progress of forest restoration in China, this article describes its obstacles and future perspectives.

ShiLi Miao, Yi Li, QinFeng Guo (USA), Hua Yu, JiangQing Ding, FeiHai Yu, Jian Liu (China), XingHai Zhang (USA), Ming Dong (China) Potential Alternatives to Classical Biocontrol: Using Native Agents in Invaded Habitats and Genetically Engineered Sterile Cultivars for Invasive Plant Management (pp 17-21)

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Invited Mini-Review: The development of an effective approach to control and eradication of invasive species has become a major challenge to scientists, managers, and society. Biocontrol has been widely utilized to control exotic plants in the past few decades with some degree of success. However, there have been an increasing number of controversies pertaining to this approach, largely due to the potential environmental risks when introduced natural enemies attack non-targeted species. Here we present two alternatives in addition to classical biocontrol of invasive plants using case studies, and discuss the possibility that there may be more than one formula for a success. One strategy is to search for native agents (other than introduced from elsewhere) in the invaded ranges to manage invasive plants that have been difficult or risky to control or eliminate with classical biocontrol methods. Another new approach is to use traditional breeding or modern transgenic technologies to produce sterile cultivars for economically important exotic plants used in horticulture and forestry.

Sarah Z. Jonas, Weimin Xi, John D. Waldron, Robert N. Coulson (USA) Impacts of Hemlock Decline and Ecological Considerations for Hemlock Stand Restoration Following Hemlock Woolly Adelgid Outbreaks (pp 22-26)

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Invited Review: We present a synthesis of current knowledge and information of hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA, Adelges tsugae Annand) impact on hemlock forests and a conceptual framework of restoring damaged hemlock stands by HWA infestation. Native to Asia, HWA has been thriving in the eastern United States since the early 1950s and has become a serious pathological agent of both eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carrière) and Carolina hemlock (Tsuga caroliniana Engelm.) even since. By 2007, it was established in portions of 16 States from Maine to Georgia, where infestations covered about half of the range of hemlock and continuously spreading. The impacts of HWA induced hemlock mortality and decline on key ecosystem resource and processes are still not fully understood. Successful and effective restoration of the declined hemlock population is challenging and involves a complex process that commonly spans many years. Development of a management and restoration strategy that will establish priorities, standards, and practices could facilitate objective decisions and allocation of limited resources. In addition to encourage natural regeneration of hemlock in the damaged forest stands and both chemical and biological control, three strategies seem to stand out as possibilities: growing off-site stocks of hemlock seedlings for replant, creating hybrid hemlocks that are resistant to HWA, and replanting with the already resistant western hemlock or Chinese hemlock. Other ecological considerations in the context of restoring hemlock forests following HWA are also discussed.

Weimin Xi, Szu-Hung Victoria Chen (USA), Yi-Chien Chu (Taiwan) The Synergistic Effects of Typhoon and Earthquake Disturbances on Forest Ecosystems: Lessons from Taiwan for Ecological Restoration and Sustainable Management (pp 27-33)

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Invited Mini-Review: Taiwan is a mountainous island in which 58.5% covered by subtropical and monsoon rain forests. Degradations of forestlands and resources often occur due to fragile geological formations and by frequent major typhoons and earthquakes. We summarized the impacts of typhoons and earthquake as natural disturbance events on forest ecosystems from various perspectives, including vegetation changes, nutrient dynamics, and watershed protection. Considering the unique environmental conditions of Taiwan, we address the synergistic effects of multiple natural disturbances. We also discuss the basic principles and framework related to post- major disturbance forest restoration and sustainable management. Moreover, we examine the potential issues of current management practices and provide insights for future directions and research needs.

R. Todd Jobe (USA) Remote Areas as Potential Restoration Sites in Conservation Landscapes (pp 34-39)

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Original Research Paper: The effects of roads and trails on species composition and diversity at landscape scales are uncertain. This leads to uncertainty about the best way to select sites for restoration. Three datasets were used in this analysis: a model that estimates the remoteness of a landscape by calculating the energetic cost required to walk through it, a set of 246 0.1 ha plant species abundance samples, and a remotely sensed plant community map. These data were used to ask three questions about the selection of restoration sites in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (Tennessee and North Carolina, US). First, does compositional similarity within a plant community change as a function of remoteness? Second, does plant species diversity, particularly of rare species, change with remoteness? Finally, how does the patch area of plant communities change as a function of remoteness? Compositional distance among pairs of sites increased as difference in energetic cost to reach the sites increased. Regression of Shannon-Wiener diversity against the multiplicative effects of energetic cost and community type revealed no significant effect of accessibility on diversity. Energetic cost also showed no significant effect on the proportion of species which occur only once in the dataset. Analysis of the landscape distribution of vegetation communities revealed that the average area of community patch does not vary by remoteness. These results suggest that accessible restoration sites are equivalent to remote sites for conserving diversity and landscape structure. Species composition of remote sites does help inform the acceptable variance in composition of restored communities.

Chiao-Ying Chou, Bo Song, Thomas M. Williams, Roy L. Hedden, Joseph D. Culin, Christopher J. Post (USA) Three-dimensional Landscape Visualizations of Forest Restoration Scenarios for Southern Pine Beetle-Infected Forests (pp 40-50)

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Original Research Paper: Setting appropriate goals for projects is a primary challenge facing forest restoration. Not only is it difficult to achieve a complete restoration of an ecosystem, but deciding restoration goals that involves a set of values from diverse stakeholders is also very challenging. In this study, an integrated technique of geographic information systems (GIS), historic remotely sensed images, and three-dimensional (3-D) landscape visualization was used to construct a variety of realistic images and animations depicting effects following southern pine beetle (SPB) infestations on different forest restoration scenarios in the upper Piedmont of South Carolina. The alternative restoration treatments included prescribed burning, mechanical thinning, and the combined effect of both. We also compared the effect of species mixture: pure loblolly pine stands and mixed pine stands within the thinning treatment and thinning + burning treatment. The results indicated that 1) thinning treatment responded the best (i.e., least damage) to SPB infestation for both pure pine stands and mixed forest stands, 2) the presence of other pine or hardwood species would not affect the tree susceptibility but does alter the distance between susceptible trees, 3) the short-term effectiveness of prescribed burning was not obvious in our study, and 4) the thinning + burning treatment may have resulted in too much stress that increases the stand’s susceptibility for SPB infestations. In addition, the spatial trends of infestation were illustrated by the photo-realistic geographical visualized medium to simplify the complicated information. This resulted in improvement of the representation and understanding of the SPB restoration scenarios for different decision makers without considerable training or experience with map reading and forest restoration.

Weimin Xi, Robert K. Peet, Dean L. Urban (USA) The Impacts of a Large, Infrequent Hurricane on Understory Sapling Dynamics and Diversity in North Carolina Piedmont Forests, USA (pp 51-59)

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Original Research Paper: We analyzed population dynamics of saplings (tree or shrub stems >50 cm in height and < 1 cm diameter at breast height) and changes in species diversity and composition during an interval lasting from 5 years before the 1996 Hurricane Fran to 5 years post-hurricane through use of permanent transects where individual sapling stems had been censused annually in the Piedmont plateau, North Carolina, USA. We hypothesized that understory sapling dynamics was largely influenced by the canopy tree damage caused by the large, infrequent hurricane, canopy disturbance enhances recruitment of light-demanding species, and increases growth rates of established saplings. Our results showed that sapling damage by Hurricane Fran was largely secondary (i.e. about 44-70% of damaged saplings were pinned by their large neighbor trees). All survey transects experienced decreased in sapling density, as a result of increased mortality. Average mortality rate of saplings nearly doubled, increasing from 7.04 ± 3.98% to 13.22 ± 5.71%. Whereas the changes in sapling density were dramatic, species diversity of saplings, however, remained relatively stable or decreased slightly due to the hurricane-induced damage. Large gaps created by the hurricane resulted in the release of established shade-intolerant or mid-tolerant saplings. We concluded that large, infrequent windstorms appear to be responsible for temporal and spatial variations in understory regeneration, which contribute to a diverse but temporally relatively stable canopy layer.

Bo Song, Charles A. Gresham, Carl C. Trettin, Thomas M. Williams (USA) Recovery of Coastal Plain Forests from Hurricane Hugo in South Carolina, USA, Fourteen Years after the Storm (pp 60-68)

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Original Research Paper: Overstory species composition dynamics following a major disturbance integrates both the characteristics of individual species and competitive interactions. The purpose of this study was to monitor species composition shifts in several wetland and upland ecosystems receiving varying levels of damage from Hurricane Hugo that took place in 1989. Fifty permanent plots were established among four study sites in the Coastal Plain of South Carolina in 1994 and the trees and saplings re-inventoried in 1997, 2000, and 2003. Over the 10-year study period, the species composition and dominance of most of the species did not change greatly; there was just the expected slow growth of basal area. On several of the sites, especially those more heavily damaged, there was a large increase in the density of species in the sapling size class that were not in the tree size class. Loblolly pine, hornbeam, redbay, deciduous holly, and wax myrtle are examples of such species.

Vladislav Soukhovolsky, Stanislav Mochalov, Elena Zoteeva, Darya Sotnichenko, Olga Sekretenko, Anton Kovalev (Russia) Early Stages of Forest Restoration after Windthrow in Ural (Russia): Observations and Mathematical Models (pp 69-74)

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Original Research Paper: This study presents data analysis and a model of early phases of forest regeneration after windthrow. Processes occurring in these phases are competition between young trees and herbaceous plants, development of young trees, and competition among different species of young trees. The model of early phases of forest regeneration after windthrow presented in the study is based on the authors’ long-term observation data on forest regeneration collected in the area in the Middle Urals that had suffered heavy windthrow.

Shi Qi (China), Yaoqi Zhang (USA), Hui Wang, Linying Li, Jinxiu Wang, Di Wang, Xiaoyan Yu, Jin Liu (China) Restoration of Forest Riparian Buffer Strips on the Upper Reaches of the Qin River, Shanxi Province (pp 75-80)

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Original Research Paper: Forest riparian buffer strips have long been recognized for their important functions that include providing shade to reduce water temperature, enhancing deposition of sediments and other contaminants, reducing nutrient loads of streams, stabilizing stream banks with vegetation, reducing erosion caused by uncontrolled runoff, and providing habitats for riparian wildlife. To rehabilitate and reconstruct the riparian buffers at the source of the Qin River in Shanxi Province, China, a field survey and experiments were conducted to provide an example of forest riparian buffer construction in the region. An assessment index system was used to evaluate the Chishiqiao and Zihong rivers, both first-level tributaries of the Qin River. A comprehensive evaluation index system offered indicators of vegetation structural intactness and bank stability including vegetation continuity along the river channel, vegetation coverage and height, abundance of floristic components, associations among vegetation, rock, and soil types, bank structure, and soil erosion modulus. Results indicated that the Chishiqiao River was generally in good condition, and the condition of the Zihong River was average. Ratings for the abundance, arrangement, and coverage of riparian vegetation along the Zihong River were low due to the structural intactness subindex. To improve vegetation coverage, abundance, and collocation forms, we chose typical riparian vegetation zones, including grassland, shrub land, and shrub-grass land, and implemented different treatments, i.e. fencing the vegetation zones, planting grasses or shrubs, and covering with soil and turf. We found that soil hygroscopic coefficient, soil fertility, and total nitrogen content were strongly enhanced. Certain types of riparian buffer strips that would be suitable in this region are suggested.

Uttam K. Sahoo, Pebam Rocky, Keny Vanlalhriatpuia, Kalidas Upadhyaya (India) Species Composition, Production and Energetic Sustainability of Homegardens in the Highlands of Eastern Mizoram, India (pp 81-92)

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Original Research Paper: An in-depth study was undertaken in three villages taking 38 farms to analyze different components of homegardens and to critically analyze into various functional attributes so as to propose options for their improvement. We found homegarden sizes from 0.035 ha to 2 ha area (median =1925 m²). All together 199 plant species belonging to 67 families of which 80 were trees and 22 were shrubs were recorded from the homegardens. Mean number of species per garden was significantly higher in large gardens (53±10.8) as compared to small and medium (P<0.01). Shannon Weiner index for trees and shrubs was also higher in large gardens (H´=3.73, P<0.005). Mean number of species per garden and no of tree and shrubs species per garden significantly increases from small to large garden (P<0.01) where as there is no significant difference for herbs while mean number of species per 100 m² and trees and shrubs per 100 m² significantly decreases from small to large gardens (P<0.005). The energy input ranged from 125 MJ per m² in small to 31 MJ per 100 m² in large gardens. The energy efficiency was found to significantly (P<0.04) vary from 27 in small garden to 36 and 54 in medium and large gardens respectively. The monetary input significantly (P<0.02) varies from Rs. 928 per 100 m² in small to Rs. 228 per 100 m² in large gardens while there is no significant difference for the monetary output and the output-input ratio significantly (P<0.05) varies from 2.6 in small to 4.4 and 6.6 in medium and large gardens respectively. Mean net financial value of the homegardens ranged from Rs. 19,890 in small gardens to Rs. 1,31,476 in large gardens and the proceeds from the sale contributes 29.2% (small garden) to 52% (large gardens) of the total household income.

Bin Wang, Yuping Zhao (China), Xubin Pan (China/USA) Centennial Forestry Development of North Dakota State and its Lesson for China (pp 93-95)

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Research Note: The “Dust Bowl” happened in the Great Plains (including the North Dakota state) in the 1930s, and people wanted to plant trees to improve the environment. After a century of a hard work and many failures, forest land now covers 1.6% of the area in North Dakota. Now, the Conservation Reserve Program has been implemented in North Dakota, which is very similar to the Conversion of Cropland to Forest and Grassland project in China, such as Xilingol League. Tree species selection and price support measures will also be suggested for adoption in China.

Leandro Francisco de Oliveira, Luciana Lopes Fortes Ribas, Marguerite Quoirin, Henrique Soares Koehler, Erika Amano, Antonio Rioyei Higa (Brazil) Micropropagation of Pinus taeda L. from Juvenile Material (pp 96-101)

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Original Research Paper: The purpose of this study was to develop a protocol for the micropropagation of Pinus taeda from juvenile material. Apical shoots and nodal segments were inoculated into MS, DCR or WV medium. After 90 days, the explants were transferred to WV5 medium supplemented or not with 6-benzyladenine (BA) (2.0 µM) in order to induce multiple shoot formation. For root induction, a medium composed of water and agar and a combination of 1-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) (2.69 μM) and BA (0.44 μM) was used for periods of 7, 9 or 12 days followed by transfer to growth regulator-free GDm/2 or GDm/4 medium. During in vitro establishment, nodal segments showed better responses than apical shoots, with an average of 4.3 to 5.8 shoots per explant after 90 days of culture. WV5 medium proved better than all other media due to a higher survival rate (86%) and higher elongation percentage (85.2%). BA did not promote better multiplication compared to the control, with approximately 2.4 to 3.0 shoots per explant. The alternate use of BA concentrations (2.00, 0.25 and 1.00 µM in each subculture) in WV5 culture medium can increase the multiplication rate. The estimated production was 7530 shoots from 100 explants in 9 months of culture. The best rooting percentage (47.5%) was obtained when shoots were inoculated in a medium with 2.69 μM NAA and 0.44 μM BA for 12 days. In the roots derived from calluses, the vascular connection was established when roots were longer than 0.6 cm and this size was recommended as the minimum for transplanting. Acclimatized plants showed 90% survival after 90 days. It can be concluded that micropropagation of P. taeda from axillary buds excised from seedlings is feasible.

Célestin Niyongere (Burundi/Kenya), Turoop Losenge, Elijah Miinda Ateka (Kenya), Désiré Nkezabahizi (Burundi), Guy Blomme (Uganda), Pascale Lepoint (Burundi) Occurrence and Distribution of Banana Bunchy Top Disease in the Great Lakes Region of Africa (pp 102-107))

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Original Research Paper: Banana bunchy top disease (BBTD) was first reported in 1958 in sub-Saharan Africa at the INEAC Yangambi research station in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo). Cases were reported in 1987 in the Rusizi valley encompassing the borders of Burundi, DR Congo and Rwanda. Since then, no study about BBTD had been carried out in this region. A survey was conducted from September to October, 2008 in three provinces (Bujumbura rural, Cibitoke and Bururi) of Burundi, two districts (Kamanyola and Nyangezi) in South Kivu, DR Congo and the Rusizi district in the Western province of Rwanda. A total of 7,830 banana mats, 30 randomly selected per plot, were assessed on 261 farms. A structured questionnaire was used to assess, cultivar diversity, BBTD incidence and severity, presence and occurrence of the aphid vector (Pentalonia nigronervosa Coquerel) and farmers’ awareness about BBTD management. Leaf samples were randomly collected on symptomatic plants for further PCR analysis to confirm the disease. PCR results of samples collected in the three countries confirmed the presence of BBTV. Similar banana varieties are grown across the three countries, indicating the cross-border movement of planting materials which may have influenced disease spread over the past decennia. The regional average of BBTD incidence and aphid occurrence was 25% and 46%, respectively. However, no significant relationship between aphid occurrence and BBTD incidence (R=0.3, P= 0.623) was observed. Among the interviewed farmers, 90% were able to recognize advanced BBTD symptoms; while 95% of farmers were unaware of disease management options and stated that no locally cultivar is resistant to the disease. This pinpoints the need for farmers’ awareness raising and that tolerant cultivars should be part of control option packages.

Thogatabalija Latha, Gudipalli Padmaja (India) RAPD Analysis for Detection of Genetic Variability and Sex in Givotia rottleriformis Griff. (pp 108-115)

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Original Research Paper: Givotia rottleriformis Griff. is an economically important dioecious tree species known for the softwood used in making toys. Knowledge of genetic variation in a dioecious tree species is important for devising strategies for its successful management and conservation. Studies were conducted to examine the genetic variation in Givotia plants using RAPD (random amplified polymorphic DNA) analysis and to identify molecular marker(s) linked to sex, if any. RAPD analysis was initially performed using 32 random decamer primers in DNA bulks of 5 male and 5 female plants. Out of 32 random primers tested, 24 resulted in DNA amplification of male and female plants whereas no amplification was observed with the remaining 8 primers used. Analysis of individual male and female plants with 24 random primers revealed a total of 142 amplified bands of which 86 were polymorphic accounting for an average polymorphism of 52.9%. The highest number of amplified bands (11) was generated from primer OPAL-08, 8 of which were polymorphic; the highest number of polymorphic bands (10) was generated from primer OPG-16. Cluster analysis constructed from pooled RAPD data using Jaccard’s similarity coefficient showed grouping of males and female plants into three clusters at a 70% similarity level. Twelve random primers which produced sex-specific bands in DNA bulks of males and females when tested in individual male and female plants exhibited a variable banding pattern except for primer OPT-17, which amplified a 1000-bp band in all 5 females and also in 1 male thus exhibiting partial association with sex.

P. Rama Chandra Prasad, C. B. S. Dutt (India) Community Classification and Species Assemblage Limit within the Forests of North Andaman Islands, India (pp 116-121)

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Original Research Paper: In the present study, three large ecological plots of 3 ha each were surveyed in 3 different forest types of North Andaman Islands. Each 3-ha plot (30 sub-plots of 0.1 ha each) was classified into different classes based on site quality as either excellent, good, moderate or poor using an index developed by utilizing vegetation parameters such as species richness, diversity, density, among others. Analysis revealed most of the area to be under the good category in three forest communities, indicating that forests of North Andaman are potential sites of species richness and diversity. The “general limit of species assemblage” with respect to higher angiosperm taxa in North Andaman was observed based on two independent approaches of sampling: stratified random plots and the large area ecological plots. The general limit of species assemblage was in the range of 14-33 species. The present analysis provides a base for future investigations to identify subplot characteristics that provide variation in species dominance, richness and diversity within a small unit area, which has made it possible to classify the 3-ha plots into four classes.

Dilip Nandwani (USA), Jaime A. Teixeira da Silva (Japan) Field Evaluation of Tissue Cultured Banana (Musa spp.) Using a Narrow Pit System under Atoll Environment Conditions (pp 122-125)

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Original Research Paper: Bananas are widely grown in the Marshall Islands and are an important food crop for domestic consumption. This study reports on the field evaluation of new varieties of tissue cultured banana in the local soil and climatic conditions of the Marshall Islands using a narrow pit system. The study was conducted during Yr. 2002-2004 at the College of the Marshall Islands experimental station in Arrak village, Majuro atoll. A dozen local varieties of banana were documented with their usage as either dessert or cooking type. Plant height, bunch weight, number of hands/bunch, stem diameter, color, and maturity of 11 new varieties were determined. Var. Robusta and FHIA-17 were recorded as being dwarf (180 cm) while Saba was the tallest variety (390 cm). Longest cycling time (15 months) was observed in Saba compared to Pesang Ceylan (12.2 months). The weight of the fruit bunch varied considerably with accession, ranging from 6.3 kg for Pesang Ceylan to 23.2 kg for Robusta. Girth or stem diameter of the pseudostem was also significant among varieties. Saba demonstrated the largest diameter (85.0 cm) and produced a high number of fruits (fingers), 122/bunch. The reaction of varieties to yellow or black Sigatoka and panama (Fusarium wilt) diseases was assessed. Introduced cooking or dessert varieties produced fruits and performed well under the soil and climatic conditions of the Marshall Islands in a narrow pit system.

Srinivasan Ganeshan, Punathil Ellath Rajasekharan, Sunitha Bhaskaran (India) In Vitro Conservation of Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam. (pp 126-129)

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Short Communication: Jackfruit(Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam.) is a tropical fruit tree indigenous to rainforests of Western Ghats and distributed throughout India, Burma, Sri Lanka, Southern China, Malaya and the East Indies. Though cultivated to a certain extent in India and the East, this species has been reported to be regionally endangered in South India. Tissue culture techniques for propagating identified elite scion varieties would help to retain genotypic characters and produce a large number of plant material. In vitro methods for propagation of jackfruit are in a developmental stage in 8 South Asian countries. There is no report on in vitro conservation of A. heterophyllus to date. Thus, in order to overcome recalcitrance, retain genetic purity of elite varieties and prevent escalation of this species in the hierarchy of the Red Data Book, this study on in vitro conservation was taken up, where micropropagation formed a pre-requisite for conservation studies. Protocols have been optimized to conserve germplasm in vitro at 10^oC without an intervening subculture for 4 years, which could support jackfruit conservation programs ex situ. The present paper highlights the use of in vitro conservation methods for jackfruit under reduced culture conditions for establishment of In vitro Active Genebank (IVAG).

Rajesh Kumar, Ashwani Tapwal (India), Jaime A. Teixeira da Silva (Japan), Debu Moni Baruah, Sabi Gogoi (India) Seasonal Dynamics of Leaf Litter Decomposition and Fungal Population in an Undisturbed Dipterocarpus Forest of North East India (pp 130-134)

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Research Note: The impact of climatic factors such as rainfall, temperature and seasonal variations on the rate of leaf litter decomposition and on the occurrence and abundance of microfungi were studied in an undisturbed Dipterocarpus forest in Manipur, North East India. The decomposition of leaf litter was determined by the litter bag method and culturable microfungal quantities were determined using serial dilution and plate count methods. The results of the study revealed a decline in the microfungal population and decomposition in environments with scanty rainfall. Significant positive correlations were observed between weight loss, rainfall, microfungal quantities and temperature. Significant variation in fungal colonies was observed in different seasons. Depletion in rainfall may be one of the important causes for the decrease in decomposition rate, which may have affected the nutrient dynamics and occurrence of microfungi. It may also affect overall forest productivity if similar adverse climatic conditions continued in the region in the future.