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 paper presents the leaf epidermal micromorphology of 26 bamboo
species under seven genera occurring in Bangladesh both in wild and under
cultivation. The results are presented in a tabular form. The findings indicate
that micromorphological features of abaxial leaf epidermis work as taxonomic
characters at species level. The paper also provides a dichotomous key to
identify bamboo species occurring in Bangladesh based on leaf epidermal
characters
Sandal wood, Sautalum album L. contains
fragrant oil in the scented heartwood which issold
by weight, and perhaps it is the most precious
wood in this part of the world (Troup 1921).
However, Bangladesh imports sandal wood for
commercial purpose. Recently, the Bangladesh
ForestResearch Institutehad undertaken research
work on the silvicultural aspects of this species to
help raise its commercial plantations. The Forest
Department has undertaken an afforestation
project with this species. As a consequence,
hundreds of seedlings were raised in polybags in
January, 1993. A serious root rot disease was
observed in late February of the same year.
The typical symptom of the disease was
manifested through the gradual browning of the
leaves of the seedlings. Brown spots appeared
first on the branch and tap roots, which later
turned black. The leaves of the infected seedlings
lost their freshness and began to die out with the
stem standing erect. The disease caused 50%
mortality of the seedlings within 3-5 days. One
fungus, Fusarium moniliformae Sheld. was consistently isolated from the samples. A pathogenicity
test confirmed that the fungus was the pathogen
of the root rot.
The root rot ofsandal wood seedlings was
successfully controlledby the use ofDithaneM-45
@ one gram/I of water. The fungicidal mixture
was sprayed over the diseased and healthy
seedlings in such a way that the mixture could
reach the rootsystem. A second spraywas applied
after an interval ofone week. Arrangermentswere
also made for allowing sufficient light on the
seedlings for about six hours a day.
This disease is a new record on sandal
wood in Bangladesh. Although root rot is a
common phenomenon in our forest nursery, the
disease was indeed a serious one. No report of
such kind of root rot is available. Excess moisture
causes damping-off to the sandal wood seedlings
(Troup 1921). However, it was not a case of
damping-off. F. moniliformae is mainly a soilbome
fungus which can cause leaf blight of maize, foot
rot of rice and mango floral malformation
(Rangaswami 1988). It also causes pre-and
post-emergence seedlings blight of maize
(Baruah et al. 1985). Rahman et al. (1980) isolated
F. moniliformae from agar,Aquillaraiaagallocha tree.
The fungus can survive in soil for a long period,
and isfound in fields having general deficiency of
water (Singh 1983). In Bangladesh, January and
February are the months of dry and cold
period of the year. So, this may be the favourable
time for its sporulation and infection in our
country
Pot culture experiments were carried out in non-pasteurised soil to determine
the effects ofsix different VAM fungi such as Gigaspora margarita, Glomus deserticola,
G. fasciculatiim, G. mosseae, G. monosporum and G. versiforme individually as well as in
combinations with Frankia sp. on the seedling growth of Casuarina equisetifolia.
Inoculation of VAM fungi or Frankia sp. increased the growth and biomass. Among
the different VAM fungi, Glomusfasciculatiim followed by G. versiforme significantly
enhanced the growth, stem girth and biomass. Inoculation with G. monosporum
increased mycorrhizal infection and spore number in the soil. Co-inoculation with
Gigaspora margarita and Frankia sp. significantly increased root colonization and
spore number. Nodule number and nodular biomass were increased with the
inoculation of VAM fungi. They were further increased by inoculations with Frankia
sp. with a maximum in G. mosseae and Frankia sp. inoculated seedlings. Inoculation
with Gigaspora margarita individually orin combination with Frankia sp.significantly
increased tissue P and K concentration. Significant increase of N concentration was
observed in Glomus monosporum inoculation
The rural people depend largely on homestead forestry for their fuel, energy and house
building materials (Alam et al. 1988). Deforestation of this homestead forstry have been causing
severe environmental degradation and poor yield
of crops, livestock, fisheries, etc. (Haq 1986).
Considering these facts, the present study was
conducted to find out the perception of the
farmers regarding the impact of homestead
afforestation and deforestation on environmental
upgradation and degradation respectively.
The Salna village under Kaultia Union
which is adjacent to the national forest area of
Gazipur district was selected for thisstudy. Out
of 378 farmers 100 were selected randomly as
sample. Data were collected through personal
interview, using a semi-structured interview
schedule during October24 toNovember23,1996.
The trend of plant population was measured by
considering 1975 as the baseline year and then the
change was shown after 10 years (1985), 5 years
(1990), 5 years (1995) and the study year which is
1996. The 5 years gap was used for two times
because it was assumed that the awareness
programme regarding deforestation wasstrengthened from that time. The number of tree during
the past period was measured on the basis of
number mentioned by the farmers depending on
their memory. For this reason, the farmers aged
above 40 years were selected for the study
The effect ofsalinity on the germination of Sonneratia apetala Buch.-Ham.
was studied. The best germination success was observed in the 0-5 ppt salinity
range with the highest value (98.67%) at the 0 ppt (fresh water) level.
Germination success decreased significantly with the increasing level of
salinity. Increasing salinity also remarkably delayed the germination.
Satisfactory germination success was observed when salt treated seeds were
sown in fresh water condition. This indicates that salt has only a reversible
inhibitory effect on germination. The rate of recovery from the inhibitory effect
ofsalt was not found to be sensitive to the level of salinity, and did not exhibit
any definite relationship with the length of exposure of seed to the saline
condition
The term allelopathy, literally meaning
mutual harm, refers to the positive or negative
influences of one plant with or without microbial
action upon anotherthroughchemicalmeans other
than nutritional. Allelopathy depends on
chemical compounds mainly added to the environment from living plants or dead and decaying
parts(Tang 1986). Thenumber and diversityofthe
compounds involved in allelopathy are growing
rapidly. These chemicals may be produced by
various parts of the plant such as roots and leaves
(Horseley 1977), pollen (Ortega et al. 1988), seeds
or fruits (Friedman et al. 1982), although roots and
leaves are the main sources (Horseley 1977).
Autotoxicity is apparently a negative feature of
allelochemical production avoided by some
species through excreting or sequestering of
chemicals involved in structures. The
allelochemicals can be classified based on the
nature of producers, systematics of donor and
receiver, inhibitory and stimulatory activity or
upon the self or alien origin. During the last few
years effortshave beenmade to exploitallelopathy
for weed management, pest management,
comparison and rational cropping, agroforestry
and other
One hundred and eight species of macrohymenopterans belonging to
fifteen families and fifty six genera were recorded from the Silent Valley
National Park. The families Sphecidae, Formicidae, Pompilidae and Apidae
contained maximum number of species. The insects were collected from five
habitats, viz., tropical evergreen forest, subtropical broad leaved hill forest,
montane wet temperate forest, low altitude grasslands and high altitude
grasslands. Of the various species recorded in this study, seven genera and
eleven species are new reportsfor Kerala and seven species are new reportsfor
India
Eucalyptus camaldulensis poles were treated with 50 : 50 creosote-light
diesel oil mixture. The poles contained an average of 53.85% sapwood which
was readily perishable by wood destroying organisms if untreated. The poles
were treated by the Bethel Full-Cell process using varying pressure and
duration to evaluate the effect on penetration and retention of the preservative
mixture. It was found that with the simultaneous increase of both treating
pressure and time, no significant increase in pentration was achieved. On the
other hand, with the increase of treating pressure only, the retention of
pressrvative in the sapwood was increased significantly. A penetration of 3.5
cm with retention of 318. 45 kg/m3 in the treated sapwood could be obtained
by using 10.57 kg/cm2 pressure for 3 hours. This amount of penetration is
considered adequate to protect the sapwood region of the pole.
Teli garjan (Dipterocarpus turbinatus) is the most important indigenous
species included for long term plantation programme in Bangladesh. Site indices
models have been derived for the species in the plantations of Bangladesh. The
selected models derived in the study could be satisfactorily used for teli garjan
plantations having ages 3-60 years and site indices of 25-55 metres based on a base
age or rotation of 45 years.
A study was conducted with 15 lesser used/unused medium density
(0.52-0.68) wood species of Bangladesh to determine their hardboard making
characteristics. The species tested were barta (Artocarpus lakoocha), chalta (Dillenia
iiidica), dakroom (Mitragyna rotundifalia), gab (Diospyros peregrine), hargaza (Dillenia
pcntagynn), jhumka bhadi (Engelhardtia spicata), kamdev (Calophyllum polyanthum),
kao (Garcinia cowa), kasturi (Cinnamomum cecidodaphne), kerung (Pongamia pinnata),
moos (Pterospernium acerifolium), pairag (Canarium risiiiiferum), rata (Aphanamixis
polystachya), tali (Palagttiuni polyanthum) and uriam (Mangifera sylvatica). It wasfound
that all the species except barta, kasturi and uriam produced good or even better
quality hardboard than that ofsundri (Heritierafames) a widely used wood species in
Khulna Hardboard Mills
Welcome to the Bangladesh Journal of Forest Science (BJFS) – a leading platform for advancing the knowledge and understanding of forest science in Bangladesh and beyond. Established with a commitment to excellence, BJFS serves as a cornerstone for researchers, practitioners, and enthusiasts dedicated to the sustainable management and conservation of forest ecosystems.
