Development and validation of generalized biomass models for estimation of carbon stock in important agroforestry species

Not AvailableEstimation of biomass/wood production from timber species like Acacia nilotica, Dalbergia sissoo and Tectona grandis is required for research and merchant purposes. Accurate estimation of biomass can be done through destructive sampling, but that is cumbersome exercise. Alternatively, one can develop regression equations using easily measurable parameter like diameter at breast height (DBH). Usually biomass models are developed with the help of tree data for a particular location/area. Therefore, these models may not suitably be applied to other locations, as growth behavior of trees on other locations are not accounted for. In present study, generalized models for A. nilotica, D. sissoo and T. grandis have been developed and validated using available biomass equations, secondary data and primary data. The developed regression models were also validated on an independent dataset and found statistically good fit. In case of A. nilotica, model B = 0.360 D 1.598 (R 2 = 0.926), for D. sissoo, exponential model B = 3.084 e 0.172D (R 2 = 0.924) and for T. grandis, parabolic model B = -22.262 + 2.845 D + 0.115 D 2 (R 2 = 0.951) were found good fit; where, B- biomass (kg tree -1 ) and D- DBH (cm). On validation, these models gave an error of 0.536, 2.419 and 3.896 kg tree -1 , respectively in prediction of biomass. Hence, these models may be used for estimating biomass of A. nilotica, D. sissoo and T. grandis plantations in different regions.Not Availabl

Studies on genetic diversity in poplar (Populus deltoides Bartram ex Marsh.) using morphological and random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) marker

30 popular poplar clones were studied to assess genetic divergence using morphological growth parameters and random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers. Based on Mahalanobis D2 analysis, 15 clusters were formed and clustering pattern indicated presence of substantial genetic diversity among 30 poplar clones. These clones were subjected to RAPD analysis, a total of 374 RAPD loci were detected out of which 20 were monomorphic and 354 were polymorphic. A positive correlation between morphological and RAPD analysis in estimating genetic divergence was found. The present molecular study revealed that genotypes from different geographical region clustered in one group, which signifies occurrence of narrow genetic base in that zone. To promote diversified plantation, a multiculture group comprising of S7 C1, G-7, 421-2, 82-35-4, PIP-123, D-123, A-194 and 22-N was found to make a broad genetic base for commercial plantations.Key words: Poplar, clones, D2 , random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD), DNA, diversity

Plant and soil carbon stock and carbon sequestration potential in four major bamboo species of North India

With climate change being unequivocal, reducing CO2 in our atmosphere has become a primary goal of international efforts. Carbon sequestration is the process characteristic of the species employed for plantation but depends on the continuous management of the plantation also. Assessment of carbon stocks in vegetation and soil is a basic step in evaluating the carbon sequestration potential of an ecosystem. The present study was conducted to quantify the total carbon stock and carbon sequestration potential in four bamboo plantation systems (Dendrocalamus strictus, Bambusa vulgaris, Bambusa balcooa and Bambusa nutans) in the Terai belt of Uttarakhand, India for two years. The major parameters of the study involved physicochemical characteristics of the soil, structural and functional attributes of microbes, and carbon stocks and carbon sequestration potential in vegetation and soil. Destructive approach was used for biomass estimation. At the end of the study, soil organic carbon stocks in the plantations Dendrocalamus strictus, Bambusa vulgaris, Bambusa balcooa and Bambusa nutans were 106.56 t ha-1, 85.06 t ha-1, 65.40 t ha-1, and 57.28 t ha-1 respectively. With this, the highest carbon sequestration potential was observed in Dendrocalamus strictus plantation soil. The observed average soil respiration (1426.45mg CO2 m-2 hr-1) and microbial biomass carbon (0.212%) were also highest in D. strictus among all species. Carbon stock was found more in biomass than in soil in all bamboo species. Thus, the present study clearly demonstrates that besides being an economic strength bamboo plant have shown encouraging results in the field of carbon sequestration potential also and it can be a better climate change mitigation option because of several environmental benefits

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Not AvailableIndia especially in and around Dehra Dun. It is one of the year April 2006 (Figure 1). The growth characters of the widely cultivated homestead species in Tripura, Assam, selected mother clump are given in Table 1. Orissa, West Bengal of India and Bangladesh and one of Three offsets of the selected mother plant were the commercial species of Thailand. There are many transported from Bilaspur and were planted and flowering records for different years from 1893, established in germplasm garden of G.B. Pant University authentic gregarious flowering reports after 1840 are for of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar. In the year the years 1894-96, 1966, 1979-80 and 1987-88 2008, a culm was harvested from the 2-year old (Seethalakshmi and Kumar, 1998). Apart from sporadic established mother plant for making culm cuttings for flowering, the bamboo seems to flower gregariously further multiplication. The culms were cut into 3 nodal after 35 years and at least two separate flowering cycles segments. Cuttings were treated with 500 ppm IBA are involved. solution and were placed in sand propagation beds in Germplasm garden for bamboo was established at nursery for rooting. Misting was provided to the cuttings. Agroforestry Research Centre of G.B. Pant University of Sprouting (40 per cent was observed after 12 days). The Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar. The germplasm twigs produced in culm cutting also flowered within a garden mainly aims at identification and centralizing week (10 per cent). No rooting was observed in all culm better mother plants of bamboo. For centralizing plus cuttings and so could not survive. Simultaneously it was clumps, regular exploration visits are being made since also observed that the newly established clump in the 2005. In one such survey, one candidate plus clump (CPC) germplasm garden from where the cuttings wereNot Availabl

Reliability of motor parameters for follow.up after local steroid injection in carpal tunnel syndrome

Background: Local steroid injection is one of the treatment modalities for carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). Symptomatic and electrophysiological improvement has been previously documented. The electrophysiological parameter, which represents the most consistent change after local steroid injection, is not well‑known. Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the changes in electrophysiological parameters 1 month after local steroid injection and to determine the parameter that is able to depict improvement across the severity spectrum of CTS. Materials and Methods: Forty‑seven patients (27 with bilateral disease, 74 hands totally) were included. The electrophysiological parameters studied at baseline included sensory onset latency, sensory nerve action potential amplitude, sensory conduction velocity (CV), distal motor latency, compound muscle action potential amplitude and motor CV. All patients were injected with 40 mg triamcinalone at the wrist. After 1 month, symptomatic improvement from baseline was documented using visual analog score of 100. Electrophysiology was repeated. Paired t tests were done between baseline electrophysiology parameters and those obtained 1 month after steroid injection for significant improvement. Subgroup analyses were performed in hands with mild to moderate (Grade 3 or less by Bland’s classification) and severe disease (Grades 4 and 5). Results: All patients showed a symptomatic improvement. Distal motor latency showed most consistent improvement irrespective of the severity of CTS. In mild to moderate CTS (Grade 3 or less of the classification given by Bland) sensory parameters were recordable and showed significant improvement in addition to distal motor latency. In the subcategory of severe CTS (Grades 4 and 5 of Bland) where sensory parameters are not recordable distal motor latency and the motor CV showed a significant improvement. Conclusion: One month after local steroid injection among the electrophysiological parameters studied distal motor latencies showed most consistent and recordable improvement across the severity spectrum of CTS. This can be used as a single objective parameter to follow‑up patients after a local steroid injection to document improvement or relapse. They can also be considered as objective parameter to follow‑up patients after surgery

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Not AvailableHaldu (Adina cordifolia Roxb. Hook. f. ex Brandis) is large deciduous tree species of family Rubiaceae. It is one of the common associate species in West gangetic moist mixed deciduous forests and on well-drained deep soil in Shivalik. It also occurs in dry region of Ceylon and sub-Himalayan tracts from Nepal Eastward to Asom. In Western Himalayas, it is confined to outer slope up to 1000 m. The tree occurs scattered in the deciduous forests throughout India, with exception of arid region of Rajasthan (Mandal et al. 1984). The wood of the species is used for making doors and window frames, plywood. The species is also heavily exploited for fuelwood and fodder. Natural regeneration of the species is very difficult as the minute seeds (about 11 million seeds/kg) as well as young seedlings in forests are washed away very easily and thus survival and establishment in forests is very less. The species therefore requires immediate attention for its regeneration, cultivation and conservation (Kaushal et al. 2010). Exact knowledge of maturity time is therefore essential to avoid the collection of immature and non-viable seeds which can cause nursery and plantation failure. The present study was therefore conducted to develop seed maturation indices for better regeneration and multiplication of the Adina cordifolia. Fruits of haldu were collected from Tanda (29°02 N, 079°23 E and 242.42 m amsl) and Lalkuan (29°04 N, 079°30 E and 230.2 m amsl) forests of tarai and Bhakara (29°10 N, 079°25 E and 287.87 m amsl) and Barheni (29°14 N, 079°17 E and 318.18 m amsl) forests of bhabar region. Fruits were collected starting from first week of April and continued every seven days until the fruits were not available. For collecting the fruits, five healthy average sized trees were selected on phenotypic basis. After collection, the fruits were brought at field laboratory of Agroforestry Research Centre (AFRC) of G B Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand (29° N, 79°.3 E and 243.84 m amsl) during April–May 2010. The fruits were dried in sunlight till opening. Fruit colour, moisture content per cent and specific gravity was recorded during each collection dates at all the collection sites as per standard procedure (ISTA 1993). The germination study was conducted in germinator which was maintained at 25±2ºC temperature. The data were statistically analyzed using two way ANOVA (Snedecor and Cochran 1967) to find out the presence of significant difference between sites and dates. The analysis was carried out with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) windows software package.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableGrowth, biomass, carbon storage, and carbon sequestration potential along an age series in Populus deltoides plantations were assessed. The growth rate of diameter at breast height and height was higher in trees of 4 to 7 years and 2 to 5 years, respectively. The total aboveground biomass (AGB) increased with age and reached its maximum (180.2 Mg ha–1) at 11 years of age. Mean carbon concentration in aboveground components varied from 39.7% to 51.7%. Allometric equations were developed to estimate biomass and biomass carbon in different tree components, which had adjusted R squares greater than 94%. Aboveground carbon stocks in P. deltoides increased from 0.5 Mg ha–1 at 1 year to 90.1 Mg ha–1 at 11 years. The carbon sequestration rate (i.e. carbon sequestrated in wood products and by the substitution of biomass for coal) in mature plantations (7–11 years) varied from 5.8 to 6.5 Mg C ha–1 per year. Soil carbon stocks increased with age (1–11 years) from 61.2 to 66.8 Mg ha–1 and decreased with soil depth. Soil carbon stock in different ages of plantations varied from 63.9 to 83.8 Mg ha–1 at 0–30 cm depth, 57.5 to 60.1 Mg ha–1 at 30–60 cm depth, and 55.5 to 59.7 Mg ha–1 at 60–90 cm depth. The amount of total carbon stock (AGB and soil) increased from 64.4 Mg ha–1 at 1 year to 173.9 Mg ha–1 at 11 years. This study recommends P. deltoides planting as a viable option for sustainable production and carbon mitigation.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableAbstract: Poplar (Populus deltoides) is one of the dominant and most preferred agroforestry species of the farming community of the Indo-Gangetic Region (IGR). The species is maintained at different rotation lengths depending upon farmers’ management needs. The objective of the study was to compare carbon sequestration potential of poplar-based agroforestry systems in different parts of IGR using the CO2FIX model. Growth of trees, and yield of associated crops along with their area coverage, soil carbon, and litter fall were measured at Ludhiana (upper-IGR), Pantnagar (middle-IGR) and Pusa (lower-IGR). These data were used as inputs for CO2FIX. Two rotation ages (6 and 9 years) were simulated for 54 years. The simulation results showed that biomass decreased by 62.50% in the upper IGR when rotation was reduced by three years from 9 to 6 years. Similarly the decrease was 56.57% and 43.18% in middle and lower IGR. The initial soil carbon pools were 7.7, 19.5 and 6.9 Mg ha-1 For upper, middle and lower IGR, respectively, which increased to 15.9, 22.792 and 15.092 Mg ha by the end of 9th year; and 10.4, 18.8 and 12.3 Mg ha-1 by the end of the sixth year in first rotation. The net carbon sequestered was 47.2%, 51.7% and 31.4% less in 6 year rotation in upper, middle and lower IGR, respectively, as compared to 9 year rotation when compared for 54 years. The result suggests that in lower IGR shorter duration rotation of 6 years should be preferred and in upper IGR 9 year rotation is beneficial for carbon sequestration.Not Availabl