Trace metal contamination in marine and riverine sediments around San Rossore Park (Italy)

Surficial sediments collected in 1984 and 1985 in the marine coastal belt and in the final stretch of rivers flowing in the San Rossore zone were analyzed for ten trace elements using atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Inter-element relationships as well as those with grain size and organic carbon contents were examined before interpreting the data obtained. The results indicate that rivers flowing in this area and especially the river Morto, are subject to anthropogenic input of Cr, Cd, Hg, Pb, Cu and Zn. The remobilization of several elements in the estuarine zone and their possible involvement in the deterioration processes of coastal vegetation of the San Rossore park, are discussed.peer-reviewe

Possibilities and Perspectives of Agroforestry in Chhattisgarh

Agroforestry (AF) is an ecofriendly and sustainable modern farming land use practice that maintains overall farm productivity by combining herbaceous food crops with woody perennial trees and livestock on the same piece of land, either alternately or at the same time, using scientific management practices that improve the socioeconomic condition of people. It is the new name for an ancient land use practice and just a compromise between agriculture and forestry. It plays a major role in enhancement of overall farm productivity, soil enrichment through litter fall, maintaining environmental services such as climate change mitigation (carbon sequestration), phytoremediation, watershed protection and biodiversity conservation. It is an effective and alternative management system to meet the target of increasing forest cover to 33 % as given by the national forest policy. Their scope and potential in any state including Chhattisgarh is tremendous. Farmers use generally N2-fixing trees like some from the Leguminosae family including Acacia spp., Dalbergia sissoo, etc., on their farmland for enhancing their field crops and generating incomes and employment. Therefore, rural people should make some strategy for the implementation of agroforestry model with suitable combination of trees and field crops, and this combination does not only generate income for the upliftment of socioeconomic value but also concerns the ecological and environmental stability on the sustained basis, i.e. emphasis should be more on scientific management of these models

HOW DOES TRADITIONAL HOME-GARDENS SUPPORT ETHNOMEDICINAL VALUES IN KUMAUN HIMALAYAN BHABHAR BELT, INDIA?

Background: Medicine is one of the four basic needs of human being fulfilled by the plant up to a large extent. Herbal remedies have been an integrated part of healing and are considered to be the oldest form of healthcare known to mankind on this earth. Materials and methods: An ethno botanical survey has been conducted using semi structured interview schedule with the villagers, in agro forestry system to identify the traditionally used plants. Results: A total of 60 medicinal plants belonging to the 33 families were found to be used for the treatment of diseases. Out of 33 families, Cucurbitaceae contributed maximum 06 genera followed by Poaceae, Brassicaceae, Solanaceae and Apiaceae. The documented plants were listed as 32 herbs, 06 shrubs, 15 trees and 07climbers. Different parts of investigated plants such as leaves (34%), fruits (19%), bark (only 2%) etc. were useful to cure the 10 different categories of ailments. In this study, about 70% of the medicines were prepared by fresh plant parts. The mode of application of herbal medicines was oral (53.33%), dermal (10%) and rest (36.66%) taken both by oral and dermal. Conclusions: Indigenous people still believe in traditional system of medicine and prefer it in search of primary health care. Such plants may be used in the formulation of new drugs. The agroforestry system supports the ethno-botanical values in a very extensive way. It is one of the best known traditional practices to cure and prevent the diseases from the very beginning of civilization, other than to full fill the daily requirement of food, fodder and timber production. The remedies obtained from the agroforestry and home gardens system are comparatively cheaper, pure, have no side effects and easily available. Therefore, it deals with those communities whom have the limited access to mainstream medicine. Agroforestry provides the alternative source of remedies and growing space for medicinal plant. Hence, there is a great a need to cultivate and conserve such plants and at the same time, there is an immediate need of indigenous practices, knowledge of such plant resources, and documentation

Assessment of herbaceous biomass: A study in Rowghat mining areas of Chhattisgarh, India

We studied Rowghat sites of Chhattisgarh, India, with the objective to assess herbaceous layer composition, biomass and to prepare management implications for conservation of ecologically sensitive species in mined areas. Ten sites (Anjrel, Khodgaon, Khadkagaon, Takrel, Rav Dongri, Tarhur, Godenmar Dongri, Parmad Dongri, Bhusujkun Dongri and Bedhiyar Nala) were selected for the study. We randomly placed quadrats of 1x1 m size in each site. A sum of 36 species distributed in 15 families were encountered in Rowghat mining site. The total density of all herbs was highest (724000) in Bhusujkun Dongri followed by Khadkagaon (678000), Rav Dongri (662000) and lowest was recorded from Godenmar Dongri (502000). The density of herbs across the study area ranged from 9,000 (D. ciliaris) to 2,50,000 (S. viridis) in the areas of Tarhur and Bediyar Nala. The herb species were unevenly distributed across mined areas. The Chlorophytum tuberosum and Cassia tora were recorded only from Tarkel and Godenmar Dongri sites, respectively. The total belowground biomass ranged between 0.097 t/ha in Godenmar Dongri to 0.18 t/ha in Rav Dongri. An ecological approach is must to restore the collieries. Protection of ecologically sensitive herbs is necessary. Prolonged ban on mining activity in Rowghat forest area is needed to restore degraded forest

Patterns of crop rading by wild ungulates and elephants in Ramnagar Forest Division, Uttarakhand

Crop raiding is a major form of human–wildlife conflict that not only affects livelihoods of farmers living close to forest areas but also jeopardizes the objective of wildlife conservation. In this study, we report patterns associated with crop raiding based on periodic fi eld inspections of 95 crop fields spread across 16 villages in India. Average raided area of the fi eld was highest in seedling stage (21%). Fields closer to the forest edge incurred higher damage in the seedling (22%) and mature stages (7%) than fields farther from the forest edge, although this was not statistically significant. Guarding was found to be ineffective in decreasing crop raiding, with no statistical difference in the mean area of damage between guarded and unguarded fields. Cheetal (Axis axis), sambar (Rusa unicolor), nilgai (Boselaphus tragocamelus), and wild pig (Sus scrofa) were the main raiders in fields close to the forest edge whereas nilgai and wild pig were chief raiders in fields farther from the forest edge. Results of this study suggest that in the study area, wild pig and nilgai are more problematic species than elephants (Elephas maximus), which are reported to cause the most damage in other landscapes

Dry matter dynamics and carbon flux along riverine forests of Gori valley, Western Himalaya

IntroductionRiverine forests in the Himalaya represent a biodiverse, dynamic, and complex ecosystem that offers numerous ecosystem services to local and downstream communities and also contributes to the regional carbon cycle. However, these forests have not been assessed for their contribution to dry matter dynamics and carbon flux. We studied these parameters along three classes of riverine forests in eastern Uttarakhand, dominated by Macaranga, Alnus, and Quercus-Machilus forest.MethodsUsing volume equations, we assessed tree biomass, carbon storage, and sequestration in the study area.ResultsThe total standing tree biomass in Macaranga, Alnus, and Quercus-Machilus forest ranged from 256.6 to 558.1  Mg  ha−1, 460.7 to 485.8 Mg ha−1, and 508.6 to 692.1 Mg ha−1, respectively. A total of 77.6–79.6% of vegetation biomass was stored in the aboveground biomass and 20.4–22.4% in belowground plant parts across the riverine forests. The carbon stock in Macaranga forest ranged from 115.5 to 251.1 Mg ha−1, in Alnus forest from 207.3 to 218.6 Mg ha−1, and in Quercus-Machilus forest from 228.9 to 311.4 Mg ha−1. The mean annual litterfall was accounted maximum for Quercus-Machilus forest (5.94  ±  0.54 Mg ha−1 yr.−1), followed by Alnus (5.57  ±  0.31 Mg ha−1 yr.−1) and Macaranga forest (4.67  ±  0.39 Mg ha−1 yr.−1). The highest value of litterfall was recorded during summer (3.40  ±  0.01 Mg ha−1 yr.−1) and the lowest in winter (0.74  ±  0.01 Mg ha−1 yr.−1). The mean value of net primary productivity and carbon sequestration was estimated to be highest in Quercus-Machilus forest (15.8  ±  0.9 Mg ha−1 yr.−1 and 7.1  ±  0.9 Mg C ha−1 yr.−1, respectively) and lowest in Alnus forest (13.9  ±  0.3 Mg ha−1 yr.−1 and 6.1  ±  0.3 Mg C ha−1 yr.−1, respectively).DiscussionThe results highlight that riverine forests play a critical role in providing a large sink for atmospheric CO2. To improve sustainable ecosystem services and climate change mitigation, riverine forests must be effectively managed and conserved in the region