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
This paper discusses the effect of relative humidity during storage on seed longevity and sowing depth on germination of Prosopsis africana (Guill and Perr.) Taub seeds. Freshly collected and two-years old seeds were used for this experiment. Six levels of relative humidity (RH) values ranging from 22 and 100% were obtained by using water and saturated solutions of some chemicals in closed chambers at a temperature of 28 – 30°C. Sundrying did not change the initial moisture contents of fresh seed, while RH of 0 – 22% and 72.5 – 100% degraded the seeds resulting in a rapid loss of viability. Complete loss of viability occurred within 18-21 months at low RH regimes and 9-15 months at high RH regimes. Germination and emergence of seedlings were significantly favoured when seeds were sown at a sowing depth range of 2.6 cm.
Bambusa bambos has been successfully planted in India to increase the productivity of bamboos. To prepare the biomass models for this species, equations were selected to estimate the green weight of tire whole bamboo culm, weights of the branches, leaves, and rhizomes. Diameter and height (DH) were found to be closely correlated with total above ground biomass and therefore selected for tire prediction of total biomass.
The African elephant Loxodonta africana Blumenbach, a water dependent intermediate bulk feeder is relatively unselective preferring grazing
to browsing (Van Soest 1982, Van Wijngaarden 1985). Unlike the elephants found in grasslands (savanna) forest elephants are browsers and feed mainly on shrubs and saplings in secondary forests (Olivier 1978). Tire forest dwelling elephants in Kenya are found in mixed forests along the farmlands during wet seasons. Sometimes they invade farmlands and eat agricultural crops such as maize, bananas, sugarcanes and potatoes. As the weather becomes drier, the elephants move up the mountain where the forage is greener and more abundant. If the drought persists they change their feeding habit and start feeding on trees (Beekman and Prins 1989) hence destroying forest plantations. The forest elephants change their diet from the scarce shrubs to tree bark during dry season. In 1986 damage of forest plantations by elephants increased and it was decided to assess the severity of the problem. The main objective of this study was to determine most damaged trees by elephants.
Bambusa vulgaris culms sampled from the riverside of Bentong, Pahang, Malaysia were found to be suitable in the manufacture of cement bonded boards. The relatively high sugar content of the culms, however, was found to give a retarding effect on cement setting. In this study, cement ratio (1:3) was found to give better board properties. Board with a bamboo – cement ratio of 1 : 2.75 with the addition of 2% chemical additives produces an acceptable board which meet the requirements of the Malaysia Standard MS 934.
The paper presents the seed germination and seedling growth of jali-bet (Calamus tenuis Roxb.) based on studies at Bangladesh Forest Research Institute, Chittagong. Germination percentages were 70 for whole fruit, 10 for seed with pulp, and 86.66 for clean seeds. Survival was 95.6% in the field when one year old seedlings raised in polybags were planted. In 18 months after planting the seedlings attained a height of 109.78 cm with 3.34 number of culms per plant. Clean seeds for nursery raising, and one year old seedlings for out planting were found suitable for successful plantations.
Village forests of Bangladesh cover an area of 0.27 million ha while state owned forests cover 2.25 million ha. Village forests, mostly privately owned are more productive than the government forests, and supply about 85 per cent of timber requirements of the country.
Both indigenous and exotic trees are the major components of the village forests in Bangladesh. They are represented by about 183 species belonging to 136 genera under 48 families. Floristic elements of this flora consist mostly of native, African and New World taxa. About 50 species are exotics and many of them have been naturalized. Exotics are still being introduced.
Most of the village trees in Bangladesh have multiple uses. About 40 are fruit trees, and others produce timbers, fuel woods, fodders, tannins, pharmaceutical products, etc.
Other than species diversity, genetic variations also occur in these village forests. Homestead tree production system in villages is a mode of species and genetic conservation for a good number of trees.
This paper reports the infestation of teak canker grub, Dihammus cervinus Hope (Cerambycidae : Coleoptera) in teak plantations of Bangladesh. It deals with the nature and extent of damage, distribution, life history, number of generation and host plants of the pest and its control measures. The pest affected on an average 14% of the saplings. The attack was found mainly during the age of 2 – 6 years with a peak in the third year. The pest was more prevalent in Chittagong Hill Tracts (North and South) than in Chittagong or Cox’s Bazar Forest Divisions. An infested sapling often contained one canker, but it might have up to four cankers. A canker usually contained one larva but it might have 2-3 larvae. Most of the cankers were found at or near the base of the saplings. About 10% of the infested saplings were found broken at the cankered site. As regards to control measures, application of carbofuran 5G @ 6 gms/sapling at thebase and subsequently watered gave nearly 70% mortality
of the larvae.
The growth and biomass production of twelve provenances of Eucalyptus brassiana were studied at the degenerated sal forest areas of Madhupur, Tangail. The trial assessed at the age of seven year showed poor survival (18 – 33%). The provenances also showed both height and diameter growth differences but the differences were not significant. Considering the above ground biomass estimation, Provenance No. 13411, Weipa, Queens land showed the highest productions both for mean trees (44.4 kg/tree) and per hectare basis (52.6 t/ha) followed by Provenance No. 13396 E. Morehead, PNG.
Growth response of Acacia mangium seedlings to cowdung and NPK fertilizers was studied in Bangladesh Forest Research Institute, Chittagong. Use of cowdung and chemical fertilizers either individually or combinedly caused significant increase in seedlings’ height and biomass production. Application of cowdung alone in soil and soil-cowdung mixture at 3:1 ratio showed best performance to enhance both height increment and biomass production. The height growth and biomass production of A. mangium seedling ranked second when soil – cowdung mixture at the rate of 5 : 1 ratio was applied in combination with NP each at 60 ppm level. Chemical fertilizer alone showed less effect on the growth of the seedlings.
Interaction of nine provenances of Acacia mangium Willd. were studied at three sites of the Philippines such as Lubuagan, Vintar in Ilocos Norte (Region – 1), Mapuyo, Mobo in Masbate (Region-5) and Lantapan Malaybalay in Bukidnon (Region-10). The sites were climatically, edaphically and topographically different from each other. The provenances studied were 13233 (Walsh’s Pyramid, Qld.), 13235 (Mourilyn Bay, Qld.), 13236 (Kurrimine, Qld.), 13238 (Tully Mission Beach, Qld.), 13240 (Ellerbeck Rd. Cardwell, Qld.), 13241 (Broken Pole Creek, Qld.), 13242 (Abergowrie SF, Qld.), 13460 (Oriomo River, Qld.), 13621 (Piru Ceram, Indonesia).
Analysis of variance for diameter and height showed significant variations due to provenance, site, and provenance-site interactions. All the provenances except one (13621) showed the best growth at Bukidnon site due to main effect. The significant provenance-site interaction was found at Masbate site which was mostly due to the remarkably different growth behaviour of the provenance 13621.
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