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Land use of the sub-Himalayan region is not that intensive like the intensively land-managed region of Punjab, India. Land resources of the sub-Himalayas must be managed effectively for sustainable development by preparing carbon inventories and data banks. Such macro-level studies have not been conducted yet in the present study area, and thus were conducted to suggest sustainable land use management options. To achieve the present study's desired goal, 33 tree-based land uses were identified from forested and agricultural landscapes of the sub-humid tropical region of West Bengal, India. Stratified random nested quadrat sampling was adopted for the study. The SOC, biomass, and carbon accumulation significantly differed. Mixed forests had the highest soil primary nutrients and carbon stock. Positive correlations were observed between SOC, total standing biomass, litter production, and ecosystem carbon. The sequence of land uses based on carbon stock was mixed-species forest > sole tree species stands in a forest landscape > tea plantations > homegardens. This baseline information can be used for developing prediction models for future interventions towards sustainable land management. The study, however, could not estimate the carbon fluxes in and out of the systems due to the absence of detailed land use land-cover databases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biomass bioenergy is an essential source of energy in many parts of rural India. Studies show a large scale fuelwood extraction from the local forests has resulted in the degradation of forest structure and composition. A detailed study on fuel wood species diversity and its utilization pattern is lacking for the Indian Eastern Himalayan region. The present study aims to inventorize the fuelwood species diversity and its utilization pattern among the homegarden owners in the Terai zone of West Bengal, India. A purposive, multi-stage random sampling was followed to select 100 homegardens for data collection. A total of 41 species belonging to 35 genera and 24 families were recorded during the study. The most frequent and abundant fuel wood species were Sapindus detergens and Machilus fasciculata. The average daily fuel wood consumption per household was 5.4 kg. On an annual basis, this total amount of fuelwood was equivalent to 102 m3 of deforested wood and, on combustion; it emitted 319 t CO2, 2.3 t CO and 1.3 t CH4. The homegardens of the study area have a great potential to ensure the year-round supply of fuelwood to the households without additional cost and act as a tool to conserve the forest ecosystem. These micro-landscapes within the agricultural or human dominated landscapes around the homestead will not only serve as corridors of biodiversity conservation through habitat connectivity but also will increase heterogeneity of forest deficient landscapes particularly in the tropics satisfying small land holder's domestic energy needs while, avoiding deforestation and thus offsetting carbon emission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information on biomass carbon storage in bamboo plantations/groves at local or regional landscapes is crucial to understand its potential in carbon stock management and climate change mitigation. The present work aims to study soil properties, litter dynamics and biomass carbon storage for the three common bamboo species from the Terai region of Indian Eastern Himalayas. Bambusa nutans, Dendrocalamus giganteus and Melocanna baccifera groves were selected for the present study. The soil pH, moisture and electrical conductivity under different bamboo groves of three species varied significantly, but moisture and electrical conductivity responded inconsistently with increasing soil depth. Similarly, the amount of soil available primary nutrients also varied significantly, where soils of M. baccifera grove were quantified with highest amount of these nutrients at all depths. M. baccifera grove produced the highest litter, although the difference with the other two groves was non-significant. The amount of oxidizable soil organic carbon quantified varied significantly among the bamboo groves, with the highest SOC content under the M. baccifera grove. The decomposition rate gradually increased with time, and within 9 months, the entire litter got decomposed. The annual return of nutrients was in the order N > K > P. The total biomass of D. giganteus, B. nutans and M. baccifera was estimated at 270.97, 127.21 and 16.31 Mg ha−1, respectively. Based on the higher R2 and adj R2, and lower AIC and HQC, Model 1 was more appropriate for B. nutans and D. giganteus, whereas Model 2 was suitable for M. baccifera. The ecosystem carbon stock of D. giganteus was significantly (163.28 Mg ha−1) higher than the other two species because of its significantly higher biomass carbon accumulation. This amount of biomass carbon storage and ecosystem carbon stock is comparable with agroforestry and forest ecosystems in the study region or elsewhere. The present study suggests these bamboos can be a feasible option for carbon farming and carbon trading, climate change adaptation and mitigation, apart from its contribution in social and economic contributions to the region's rural life. Therefore, value addition and nationalizing of bamboo are recommended to improve rural folks' livelihood. Encouraging value-added bamboo products can be negative feedback to climate change because of their durability and thus permanency of carbon stored in it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding plant community characteristics is essential for analysing phyto-diversity. This is a basic prerequisite for understanding the structural and functional attributes specific to a location to enable better landscape management. A study was conducted from April 2007 to March 2009 at Chilapatta Reserve Forest in the humid tropical foothills of the Indian eastern Himalayas to obtain comprehensive and up-to-date knowledge of the plant community based on visual observations of qualitative characteristics. A total of 311 species of plants were recorded which were represented by 167 genera and 81 families. All the shrubs, herbs, climbers and lianas were observed to be evergreen, whereas trees were mostly deciduous. A total of 165 species were either much less present or less frequent. All the climber and liana species were found growing singly while all the fern species were growing in colonies. Unlike tree species, shrubs were found dominantly growing in colonies. Medium/small leaves dominated the forest. Among the tree species, 71.86% were growing intermixed. Tree stratum was dominated by medium height species. Tree species likeTectona grandis,Shorea robusta,Albiziaspp.,Swetenia mahogany,Gmelina arborea,Lagerstroemia parviflora,Bombax ceibaandTerminalia tomentosawere dominant in terms of solar radiation interception without any interference because they occupied the top most layer of the tree stratum/canopy. The forest is dense with no barren areas in its canopy cover intercepting more than 80% PAR. The study indicates not only rich diversity of the plant community but also heterogeneity in its composition and structure. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]