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
The life cycle of Melocanna baccifera (Roxb.) Kurz plant ends with flowering, so the
species is a semelparous in nature. In a population flowering is initially sporadic which
gradually becomes gregarious and then again turns into sporadic before mass scale
death of the clumps. The flowering continues in a specific direction like a “wave”, with
a period of 12 to 14 years or more, spreading over the whole forest area. Details of
inflorescence character, flowering nature, anthesis and fruiting behaviour have been
discussed. Unlike most other bamboos, this species produces fleshy green pear-shaped
fruits (seeds). The “seed” viability and germination pattern were studied. The problem
and management system of natural regeneration after the death of flowering clumps
were also discussed.
It was estimated that the species exhibited more than one flowering cycle
(interseeding period) in different localities of Bangladesh-India-Myanmar region. Some
populations have 30-35 years of flowering cycle, and others may have further longer (45,
60,65 years) or shorter (7-10,19-21,25,26,27 years) duration. It appears that there exists
a number of flowering population in the region and they might be isolated from each
other by reproductive time. In the boundary areas, however, populations are likely to
overlap with each other and some of the clumps may flower after shorter, and others
after longer periods or in between. Enormous genetic variabilities arc expected within
this vast natural habitat due to such diversities in flowering cycle that offers opportunities
for selection and improvement of the species.
Teli garjan (Dipterocarpus turbinatus), dhakijam (Sygyzium grande) and teak (Tectona
grandis) are the three most important timber species included in the plantation
programme in Bangladesh. Sometimes, trees are being removed without recording
the diameter at breast height (dbh) and total height. As such it is not possible to
estimate the volumes of the removed trees. But, it is necessary to have an estimate of
volumes of the removed trees for different purposes. The stump diameters can be
measured while the stumps are still there after removal of the trees. Therefore, stump
diameter and dbh relationships have been established in the present paper so that we
can estimate the dbh of removed trees first followed by estimation of the volumes
using the.dbh volume relationships. It was identified that some mistakes were done
in converting the previously selected imperial volume equations to metric units for the
species teli garjan and dhakijam. These equations and tables have also been corrected.
This study was conducted to examine the effects of post-severance treatments
like leaf area of cuttings and auxin treatment on rooting of cuttings and growth of
rooted cuttings. One or two-node cuttings of sissoo, Dalbergia sissoo Roxb. with 20 or
50% leaf area were collected from managed stock plants and rooted in a non-mist
propagator following treatment with 0 or 0.2% indole-3 – butyric acid (IBA) solution.
The rooted cuttings were transferred to polythene pots and grown in a nursery for 10
weeks. Rooting percentages of cuttings were not significantly influenced by IBA
treatment or cutting size, but were significantly enhanced with the increased leaf area.
Effects of leaf area and IBA on root development of cuttings in the propagator were
manifested on the grow th of stecklings in the nursery. The increased leaf area and IBA
treatment significantly enhanced the growth of stecklings. Cuttings with 50% leaf
area plus 0.2% IBA was the best treatment to produce the best performing stecklings
The paper presents the micromorphological features of culm epidermis of 26
bamboo species occurring in Bangladesh. Different attributes of long cells, silica
bodies, cork cells, stomata, papillae and dermal appendages are provided in a table.
The study reveals that these micromorphological characters have taxonomic value at
species level. But due to homogeneity any delimitation cannot be defined at
supraspecific level.
The paper also provides an identification key to 26 bamboo species occurring in
Bangladesh, based on culm epidermal characters.
An attempt was made to isolate and study the cellulolytic microorganisms from
the soil under two deciduous (Tcctona grandis L. f. and Lagerstroeinia speciosa L.) and
two evergreen (Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehnh. and Acacia auricul’iformis A. Cunn.
ex Benth.) forest plantations, and the relation of these organisms with the soil
nutrient of the forest (N, P, K and carbon) has been observed. Among the isolates,
finally selected 11 isolates comprised of one bacterial strain (Cellulonionas sp.), five
strains of Streptomyces and five fungalstrains (Aspergill usflavus, A. nigcr,A.ochraceous,
Trichodernia lignorum, T. glaucum). Cellulolytic activity of these strains has been
reported.
Termite is one of the major problems of forestry, specially in the tropics. Losses in the
forest nurseries and plantations due to termite damage can be substantial. Damage by
Coptotermes, Odontoternies, Microcerotermes, Microtermes and Macrotermes have been found to
be serious. This paper describes damages caused by these termites and suggests measures
for their management. Various alternative strategies for their management have also been
reviewed and discussed.
Provenances of mangium (Acacia mangium Willd.) from Queensland (Australia),
Papua New Guinea and Indonesia were planted under three site conditions
of Ilocos Norte, Masbate and Bukidnon regions in the Philippines which are
edaphically, climatically and topographically different from each other.
Highly significant (P<0.01) variations in diameter, height and merchantable
height growth performances of 18 provenances at Ilocos Norte, 12 provenances at
Masbate and 12 provenances at Bukidnon at5.5 years after planting were observed.
The best growth was observed in Bukidnon site, and the provenance 13240
(Ellerbeck Rd. Qld.) of the species exhibited the best growth performance at that site
which could be selected for pilot plantation trials in the Philippines.
The paper presents the method of raising seedlings of Calamus viminalis var.
fasciculatus and their performance after planting out. Germination per cent of C. viminalis
was 24.37. Sunlight was pre-requisite for the germination. Optimum time for seedling
pricking from the seed bed to the polybag was 90 days after germination, and in this 100%
survival could be obtained. A survival of 98% was observed in the wildings when they
were transferred from the field to the polybags at an average height of 8.5 cm. One year
old wildings were significantly lower in height in the nursery than that of one year old
polybag-raised seedlings. Survival of planted seedlings at Hinguli, Chittagong in the
field was 77.5% after one year. Average height increment of the seedlings was 25.5 cm
with usually 4-5 leaves one year following planting under a teak plantation.
Hybridization of Acacia auriculiformis and
Acacia mangium occurs naturally because both are
pollen-pistil compatible, found within the same
habitat with overlapping flowering time and share
common pollinators (Zakaria 1991). Natural hybrids
of these two species are reported in Sabah
(Tham 1976) and Papua New Guinea (Turnbull
et al. 1986). The tree form of the hybrid of these two
species is satisfactory because of better stem
straightness, self-pruning stability, better stem
circularity and more disease resistance (FRIM
1992). Species/provenance trials of A auriculiformis
and A. mangium were established at Charkai,
Dinajpur, Bangladesh in 1983,1985 and 1987 at a
spacing of 1.83 m x 1.83 m covering an area of 1 ha.
The seeds were imported from Australia for these
trial plantations. Eight hybrid trees of these two
fast growing tree species were observed in the
plantation raised in 1983. The hybrids found sporadically
distributed in the plantations were identified
by the light colour of their bark. Banik et al.
(1995) also reported some hybrids of these two
species at Harbang forest areas of Chittagong
Forest Division. Some phenological information
and growth performance of these hybrids found
at Charkai are reported in this paper.
The phenological observations of the hybrids
were made very carefully every day for a period of
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