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
Species diversity and economic returns of five different components namely timber, fruit, fuelwood, vegetables and non-timber forest products (NTFPs) in homestead agroforestry system were studied at two smallest administrative units (Union) namely Betagi and West Demsha under Chittagong district. Most of the available species under each component at both locations were common. With little exception, the frequency distribution of each component species was similar in all household categories at each study location. Tree components for timber and fruit
were more in West Demsha than in Betagi, whereas components for fuelwood, vegetables and NTFPs were more in Betagi. However, the economic returns from vegetable component were more than those from any other component in both the study locations. The results indicated that homestead agroforestry systems in the study locations were traditional, and generally immediate income generating component like vegetables had been selected by the small and medium households in the establishment of such system.
Twelve high density (density range 0.775-1.031 g/cm3 lesser used/unused hardwood species, viz. bhadi (Lannea coromandelica), bahera (Terniinalia belerica), haritaki (Tarminalia chebula), jam (Syzygium sp.) kanak (Schima wallichii), minjiri (Cassia simaea), batna (Quercus sp), goda (Vitex peduncularis), gutguttya (Protium surratum), homalium (Homalium bhamanse), itchri (Anogeissus acuminata) and nageshwar (Mesue ferrea) were studied to determine their pulp making characteristics. An active alkali change of 14% and sulfidity of 25% were used in all cooks. It has been observed that most of these species produce good quality pulp.
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 andL. 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 (<10cm – > 80cm with 10cm intervals) were calculated with respect to total individuals. It showed that maximum percentage of individuals (35.08%) belonged to <10cm diameter class, while largest diameter class (>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 Mallotus 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 quatuordecinipunctata Linn. (Chrysomelidae : Coleoptera) is a major defoliator of amra (Spondias pinnata (L. f.) Kurz and S. dulcis Forst, f.) in Bangladesh. Besides Spondias spp., the pest also attacks Ficus elastica Roxb. and Duabanga grandiflora (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 speciesX. 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.
The feasibility of preservative treatment of golla cane [Daemonorops jenkinsiana (Griff.) Mart.], by soaking method was tested in the present study. Cane samples of 1 m, 2 m, and 3 m long were soaked with 10% borax and boric acid solution. The study revealed that adequate dry salt retention (DSR) in the above samples could be obtained in 3 days, 4 days, and 5 days respectively. The DSR values obtained were much higher than those of the specification (4 kgm-3) of Indian Standard. Dry cane (12.87% me) samples up to 3 m to 4 m long could be treated easily within 5 days, but the same dimension of green cane (150% me) samples needed 8 days. DSR value of air-dried sample was about 6 times higher than that of the green samples.
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