Anjana Giri

Visualizing the present biodiversity status of Nepal, an integrated approach comprising of biodiversity documentation, bio-prospecting, sustainable utilization and conservation has become an urgent need. Realizing the importance of medicinal plants altogether 45 plants were collected from Khumbu region with the altitudinal variation of 2582m to 4470m. Among the collected plant species 12 have been characterized as highly valuable. The important biochemical constituents and morphology of these plants have been described in this paper. Key words: Himalayan region, Khumbu, medicinal plants, morphological characters.

Vegetation composition, biomass production and regeneration of tree species were assessed in Terai Shorea forest (TSF) and Shorea -Terminaha forest (STF) in the south-western part of the Royal Bardia National Park, Nepal. Forests were sampled by quadrat method from January - December 1996. For each forest type 25m x 25m plots were laid for sampling trees, 5m x 5m for saplings and shrubs and lm x lm for seedlings. The forests are mainly dominated by Shorea robusta and Terminalia alata as upper canopy. However, the extent of dominance of tree species differed considerably in each forest types. Total density and basal area were higher for TSF. In TSF both density and basal area were greatest for Shorea robusta, whereas in STF, density and basal area were higher for Terminalia alata followed by Shorea robusta. The distribution of trees (>l0cm dbh) among diameter class showed a higher density of stem with 10-20 cm diameter at breast height Dead standing were also higher in lower dbh c...

Huanglongbing disease (HLB) or citrus greening disease (CGD) is the number one threat to the citrus production of Nepal. The greening organism produces leaf mottle symptoms, but they are not specific for confirmative diagnosis. The pathogen cannot be cultured in artificial medium that makes its diagnosis more complicated. In this context quick and reliable polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based molecular diagnosis of this disease is crucial. In the present investigation, two PCR-based assays viz. one based on 16S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) and another based on ribosomal protein gene from the  b operon (rpl KAJL-rpoBC) of HLB oganism were used to diagnose HLB disease in suspected citrus samples collected from 10 districts of Nepal. Out of 198 samples tested, 38 were detected positive for HLB. Of the 10 districts studied, eight were found infested with HLB disease. Result of the present preliminary study on distribution of HLB disease in Nepal highlights the alarming potential threat to citr...

The Royal Bardia National Park (RBNP) of Nepal has 35% land as riverine forest.Vegetation composition and biomass production in Evergreen Riverine Forest (ERF), and Deciduous Riverine Forest (DFW) of the RBNP were studied by lying quadrats of 25 m x 25 m. The ERF was mainly dominated by Syzygium cumini, MalIotus philippensis, Ficus racemosa , Bombax ceiba and Adina  cordifolia , whereas, DRF was dominated by A. catechu and Dalbergia sissoo . Syzygium cumini possessed higher density and basal area in ERE; whereas Acacia catechu had higher density and basal area in DRF. Density diameter distribution curves of stems showed that most of the stems were between 10-25 cm in diameter. The aboveground biomass was 459.74 t hi -1 in ERF and 150.65 t ha -1 in DRF.

Disturbances can affect the incidence of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF) in both agricultural and natural ecosystems. The present study is a first attempt for the qualitative assessment of AMF diversity in adjacent areas of a forest ecosystem with different land uses and assess levels of mycorrhizal colonization by these fungi. A total of five soil samples were taken randomly from each of the following areas situated within the same landscape: undisturbed coniferous forest (UF), degraded forest (DF) and cultivated land (CL). A total of 22 taxa of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi belonging to eight genera were identified morphologically, Glomus and Acaulospora being the most common. Species richness ranged from 11-14 among land use areas, with 14 species in UF and 11 species in CL. Acaulospora mellea, Gigaspora sp. and two non-identified Glomus species were detected in all areas. While species richness did not differ significantly amongst areas, diversity at the family level was 43% l...

Forest floor fires are known to be significantly important in carbon sequestration in soil. The present study investigated the total soil carbon stock (charcoal+soil organic carbon) andCO2 flux from four different depths (0-2, 2-10, 10-30 and >30cm) in fired and unfired forest of P. roxburghii from Langtang National Park, Nepal. The aim of this study was to test the impact of forest floor fire on soil carbon sequestration. We measured total carbon stock in soil of unfired and fired sites of different intensities namely: high frequency and high intensity, high frequency and moderate intensity and high frequency and low intensity. There was significant difference (P=0.00) of the soil organic carbon between the sites and different soil depths tested by one-way ANOVA. Similarly, one-way ANOVA test showed that soil charcoal stock was significantly different (P=0.00) at different soil depths. The value of CO2 flux was increased with increasing volumetric water content and decreasing so...

In Nepal morel mushroom is one of the most important wild edible fungi, which is exported, in larger quantities. They have been collected, consumed and traded for more than two decades. The morel mushroom trade is worth a multi-billion dollar industry worldwide. This study was carried out to elucidate the current harvest and trade of morel mushrooms, the prospects for commercial morel industry development and the resource management in Nepal. Wild morels are harvested commercially and exported extensively from west Nepal especially from Karnali and Far West Province which share 58% and 29% of total national output respectively. Most commonly found and traded species are Morchella conica and M. esculenta. In most cases, the collectors sell morels in fresh form to the local dealers or in the local markets from where they are exported to different parts of the world. A bulk of morel mushrooms is traded via Nepalgunj and Mahendranagar routes. The local collectors get nominal benefits as prices are very low in the local area as compared to international markets. The price of M. conica is always higher than other morel species. There is neither processing nor any kind of value addition works currently being done in Nepal except drying, grading and packaging. The present study reveals that Nepal has a huge potential to become a major global producer of high quality morels. There is no serious concern about the overexploitation of the resource at the moment. However, a reliable local monitoring system and a scientific intervention for the artificial cultivation are inevitable for the sustainable management.

The aim of this study was to assess the anthropogenic impacts on the vegetation structure and regeneration of dominant tree species in the community managed mixed broadleaved forests of the Sargamatha (Everest) National Park buffer zone area. The forest plots were categorized into disturbed and semi-disturbed considering the scale of anthropogenic disturbances such as percentage of biomass extraction, lopping, tramping coverage and grazing intensity. For each forest type, three radii (10 m, 5 m and 2.5 m) plots were laid for sampling trees, sapling and seedling layers, respectively. In both the forest sites, Quercus semecarpifolia and Rhododendron arboreum were the main dominant tree species. The distribution of Q. semecarpifolia and R. arboreum along with diameter classes showed high stem density mainly concentrated in 2-15 cm diameter class. In both sites, the density of R. arboreum showed increment from sapling to seedling stage, while no seedling of Q. semecarpifolia was recorde...

Crop production, animal husbandry and forestry are three closely interlinked components of land use systems in the mountains of Nepal. Forests are the major source of fuel wood, construction materials, fodder and litter. The latter is used as a bedding material for livestock and forms an important component of farmyard manure. In addition forest grazing by cattle is a common practice. Excessive extraction of biomass from the forest leads to a decline of soil organic matter and nutrient contents. On the landscape scale these negative effects will partly be compensated by positive effects on soil organic matter and nutrient stocks of arable soils. The experimental data base for a quantification of such effects at the scale of communities is however poor, in particular for Nepal. Understanding the impact of subsistence farming on ecosystems is imperative in order to recommend successful and sustainable land management practices. The aim of our study is to quantify effects of land use o...

Abstract The study was conducted in Sagarmatha National Park and its buffer zone in Solu-Khumbu region (2500-4000m) during the year 2004. A total of 150 species of mushrooms were collected, among these 23 species were identified as wild edible mushrooms with the help of local people. About 6 species of mushroom comprising Russula metachroa Hongo, Tylopilus eximus (Peck) Singh, and Naematoloma capnoides (Fr.) Karst and 3 spp. of Boletus are considered as new addition to the edible mushroom list of Nepal. The diversity of wild edible mushrooms were found high in Khumjung (3800m) and low in Pangboche (4000m). The majority of wild edible mushrooms belong to the family Boletaceae, Amanitaceae, Tricholomataceae, etc.

Page 19. 17 Mushroom diversity in the Sagarmatha national park and its buffer zone area Prabina Rana1 and Anjana Giri2 Nepal is rich in mycodiversity. However, only a few scientific researches have been conducted. ... and Juniper sp. 8 Sangboche 86042. 69'27048. ...

The fieldweek associated with the 4th Asian Dendrochronological Association Conference was an excellent opportunity for education, networking, and research. The participants and group leaders worked together for five days in an area that was new to some of the group leaders and new to some of the participants which enabled us to learn about forest ecology around Kathmandu and Nagarkot, Nepal. The fieldweek was an excellent networking opportunity and the group leaders and participants bonded which strengthened international research in dendrochronology and continues to foster new research collaborations. All of the group leaders and participants had the opportunity to learn about tree-ring formation in Pinus roxburghii at 1500 masl elevation, to explore its wood anatomy, and to examine specific research questions in our field area. In the end we developed a better understanding of the stand-age structure of a stand of trees in Nagarkot, explored the erosion history from exposed roots, and investigated tree health issues on closely related sites. We found that P. roxburghii poses some dating issues with false and micro rings at this elevation, but we were still able to develop a tree-ring chronology from this species and make preliminary assessments of stand dynamics and health.