BANGLADESH JOURNAL OF FOREST SCIENCE
A Half-yearly Peer Reviewed Journal of Bangladesh Forest Research Institute
A Half-yearly Peer Reviewed Journal of Bangladesh Forest Research Institute
In November 1989 two clumps of Thyrsostachys regia (Munro) Bennet (T. siamensis
Kurz ex Gamble) flowered in Bangladesh Forest Research Institute Bambusetum,
Chittagong. Flowering was of gregarious type and the clumps died after flowering.
Floral buds bloomed after 4-5 weeks of their initiation. There are two florets in a
spikelet and the flowers are protandrous. Anthesis generally occurred in the morning
and occasionally in the afternoon. Anther dehiscence started at noon and continued
for the whole afternoon. When in full bloom two bee species (Apis dorsata and an
unidentified one) were found to visit the flowers. Fruits matured after 60-70 days of
blooming. Squirrels and three bird species, Lonchura punctulata, L. striata and
L. malabarica) were found to feed on matured seeds.
Seed germination remains to be an unsolved problem in teak. Studies made on
radiography and seed technological aspects using drupes from India and Thailand
disclosed certain important features. Radiography has been standardised for sharp
image to read the anatomical potential of seed. Teak drupes from two provenance
differed in size and weight within and between seedlots. Radiograms revealed the
development of 4, 3,2 and 1 seed in the tetracarpellary ovary in the order of 1,5,19
and 48% with 27% empty drupes. When drupe size decreased the percentage of
single-seeded and empty drupes increased correspondingly. Teak drupes possess
ontogenic and dormancy problems posing challenge to germination
Diversity and distribution pattern of tree species of Bamu Reserved Forest of
Cox’s Bazar were studied by count plot method for analysing stand composition. A
total of 85 tree species were recorded from the forest of which 77 species belonging
to 30 families were identified. Leguminosae and Moraceae ranked top with seven
species followed by Verbenaceae and Euphorbiaceae each with six species. The
Importance Value Index (IVI) of each species was calculated to characterize the
composition of vegetation. Bursera serrata showed the highest (18.91) IVI followed
by Artocarpus chania (14.82), Pterospernium acerifolium (14.04), Hopea odorata (13.73),
Glochidion multiloculare (13.19) and Vitex peduncularis (10.51). Distribution of the
number of individuals of each species in nine diameter classes ( 80cm with
10cm intervals) were calculated with respect to total individuals. It showed that
maximum percentage of individuals (35.08%) belonged to 80cm) represented the lowest percentage (1.82%).
Bursera serra tahad the highest (8.04%) percentage distribution followed by Glochidion
multiloculare (7.67%), Dipterocarpus turbinatus (5.85%), Hopea odorata (5.36%),
Pterospernium acerifolium (4.87%), Bauhinia acuminata (4.03%) and Lagerstroemia speciosa
(3.05%). The rest of the species had values < 2.8%.
This paper describes the community structure of two prominant forest types i.e.,
moist deciduous miscellaneous and riverian Khair-Sissu forests of Himalayan foot
hills in relation to their analytic and synthetic characters. The importance value index
(IVI) values recorded from moist deciduous miscellaneous forest were maximum for
Mai lotus philippinensis (113.28) and minimum for Cassia fistula (6.54). Similarly the IVI
values in the riverian Khair-Sissu forest were maximum (218.02) for Dalbergia sissoo
and minimum (16.46) for Sapium insigne. The species diversity (2.3796), beta diversity
(2.9166) and equitability (14.6700) values were observed as maximum in moist
deciduous miscellaneous forest, whereas the values for these parameters were minimum
(0.8507, 1.3636 and 2.4915 respectively) in the riverian Khair-Sissu forest.
However, the values for concentration of dominance was maximum (0.6827) in
riverian Khair-Sissu forest and minimum (0.1071) in moist deciduous miscellaneous
forest. The soils in both the forest types were observed as alluvial, coarse textured and
almost neutral in reaction.
The beetle, Podontia qiiatuordecinipunctata Linn. (Chrysomelidae : Coleoptera) is a
major defoliator of amra (Spondias pinnata (L. f.) Kurz and S. dnlcis Forst, f.) in
Bangladesh. Besides Spondias spp., the pest also attacks Ficus elastica Roxb. and
Duabanga grand iflora (Roxb. ex DC) Walp. Both the adult and the larva cause partial or
complete defoliation affecting the growth of the plant seriously. The peak infestation
period occurred during August and September. Younger trees are most heavily
attacked. The incidence is more pronounced in the hilly areas than in the plains. The
pest was controlled by foliar application of cypermethrin (Ripcord 10 EC) @ 12 ml/10
litres of water.
The genus Xylocarpus (Family: Meliaceace) is
represented by five species, namely X.australisicus
Raidley, X. granatum Koening, X. molucccnsis Lamk.
Roem, X. gangeticus Parkison and X. parvifolius,
and they are distributed in the tropical mangrove
forests (Saenger ct al. 1993). The two species
X. granatum and X. molucccnsis are found also in
the Sundarbans, Khulna (Chaffey and Sandom
1985) and Chakaria Sundarbans of Chittagong
(Brandis 1906, Troup 1921).
The Community Forestry Project, undertaken in 1981 was the first governmentinitiated
and large-scale participatory forestry management programme in Bangladesh.
Under this project the participants were promised 50 percent share from the sales
proceeds of final tree harvest in addition to 100 percent of all other benefits generated .
from agricultural crops, thinning materials and pruning. In 1993 five agroforestry plots,
each having an area of 1.21 hectares of land were harvested at Madhyapara, Dinajpur.
Although rotation was planned for a period of seven years trees were actually felled one
year later. It has been the country’s first logged-over area under participatory approach.
Half of the sales proceeds was distributed to the participants. This example inspired both
the participants and the Forest Department.
Financial viability of the system has been explained in terms of internal rate of
return, benefit-cost ratio and present net worth under three situations, viz. a) financial
viability of the whole system, b) financial gain of the participants, and c) financial gain
of the Forest Department. While the system as a whole is found to be highly prospective,
the results also show that the benefits generated to both the participants and the Forest
Department are also much encouraging. A sensitivity analysis allowing probable variations
in cost and benefits reveals no financial risk of the system under any criteria. Social
impacts of the project and some problems have been pointed out.
Green and freshly felled poles have been treated by a simple method and cheap
chemicals. The equipment can be located very close to the site of felling and the
treatment can be carried out by semi-skilled workmen. An experiment was carried
out with this method on five indigenous wood species namely: garjan (Dipterocarpns
turbinatus), kao (Garceniacowa), jam (Syzygiuni grande), kalibatna (Qnerciisfenestrata)
and rai batna (Quercus thonisoni) with 10% copper sulphate solution at the felling site
of Chunati Forest Range, Chittagong. Analysis of the Results on the penetration and
the retention of the preservative inside the pole indicates that the entire portion of
the sap wood around the pole was completely penetrated and the required retention
was obtained.
Albizia falcataria wood has been studied for the suitability of manufacturing
cement bonded particleboard. This species failed to produce board in workable
conditions with the untreated chips. A substantial improvement of properties was
observed when the boards were made with the chips treated in cold water. The
boards were tested for determining the strength and dimensional stability. The
product was found to be dimensionally stable after soaking in water. Even though
bending strength was found to be low, the tensile strength passed the standard
specification. Cement bonded particleboard made with this species can be used
where dimensional stability is necessary.
Studies were made to assess the physiological maturity for harvesting the seed
of Prosopis juliflora with high germination and vigour. Sufficient number of
flowers were tagged at the time of anthesis. The developing pods were collected
at weekly intervals, and pod and seed development were studied at each
collection. Pod and seed weight increased with the increase of age and reached the
maximum at 91 days after anthesis (DAA). In this stage pod colour turned from
green to straw yellow. The seed extracted at this stage resulted in maximum seed
weight, germination and vigour potential. Since the germination potential and
vigour of this species started declining after this stage (91 DAA), the physiological
maturity stage for honey mesquite (P. juliflora ) could be fixed at about 91 days
after anthesis.
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