Pinus Roxburghii Sarg Research Articles

Ecological Modeling for Half Sib Progenies of Pinus Roxburghii Sarg.

Tree height is more responsive to family and within family selection than dbh. Kaldu P5 (30), Charet Mansu P4 (34) and Dohar PT1 (109) were found best performer. Site index curves were developed for Pinus roxburghii Sarg. (Chir pine) based on data from half sib progenies of Pinus roxburghii Sarg. established at UHF, Nauni, Solan (H.P.) Different models were employed to express height as a function of age. The model LnH = a+b/A 0.4 was found to be the best and was used to construct site index curves. Site index of 16.70 m, 15.90 m and 15.80 m at reference age 27 was obtained.

Study of antibacterial and antifungal activity of traditional Cedrus deodara and Pinus roxburghii Sarg

In the present study, the volatile oil, chloroform extract and methanol extract of the woods of the plants Cedrus deodara and Pinus roxburghii were screened for their antibacterial and antifungal activities against Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Streptococcus pyogenes, Candida albicans, Aspergillus niger, and Aspergillus clavatus using the Agar diffusion method. The susceptibilities of the microorganisms to the extracts were compared with each other and with a selected standard antibiotic. It was observed that the volatile oil and chloroform extracts showed the significant antibacterial activities while the least antibacterial activity was recorded with the methanolic extracts. The higher Minimum Inhibitory Concentration value of the extracts and oils against fungus suggested that the plants may possess less antifungal activity. Phytochemical analysis and thin-layer chromatography profiling revealed the presence of flavonoids and terpenoids in the oil and chloroform extracts, which could explain the antimicrobial activity. The findings suggest that the Cedrus deodara and Pinus roxburghii have antimicrobial properties and they can be used in the treatment of infectious diseases. However, further work is required in order to isolate the active constituents of the plants responsible for the antibacterial activity

Above and below ground organic carbon stocks in a sub-tropical Pinus roxburghii Sargent forest of the Garhwal Himalayas

Accurate estimates of tree carbon, forest floor carbon and organic carbon in forest soils (SOC) are important in order to determine their contribution to global carbon (C) stocks. However, information about these carbon stocks is lacking. Some studies have investigated regional and continental scale patterns of carbon stocks in forest ecosystems; however, the changes in C storage in different components (vegetation, forest floor and soil) as a function of elevation in forest ecosystems remain poorly understood. In this study, we estimate C stocks of vegetation, forest floor and soils of a Pinus roxburghii Sargent forest in the Garhwal Himalayas along a gradient to quantify changes in carbon stock due to differences in elevation at three sites. The biomass of the vegetation changes drastically with increasing elevation among the three sites. The above-ground biomass (AGB) and below-ground biomass (BGB) were highest at site I (184.46 and 46.386 t·ha−1 respectively) at an elevation of 1300 m followed by site II (173.99 and 44.057 t·ha−1 AGB and BGB respectively) at 1400 m and the lowest AGB and BGB were estimated at site III (161.72 and 41.301 t·ha−1) at 1500 m. The trend for SOC stock was similar to that of biomass. Our results suggest that carbon storage (in both soil and biomass) is negatively correlated with elevation.

Genetic Parameters and Gain Estimates for Growth Traits in Chir Pine (Pinus Roxburghii Sarg.) in a 22 Years Old Half-Sib Progeny Test

Twenty two year old half-sib progenies of 58 plus trees of Chir pine (Pinus roxburghii Sarg.) grown in a progeny test at Solan, Himachal Pradesh, India, were evaluated. The estimated test mean for tree height and dbh was 12.43 m and 21.37 cm with current annual increment 0.93 m and 1.31 cm, respectively. Family mean for tree height varied from 8.04 m to 16.08 m and for dbh from 14.56 cm to 27.23 cm. The family differences were highly significant (P<0.001). Tree-to-tree variance within plot (σ²w) was the major contributor (more than 78%) towards the total phenotypic variance for all the growth traits studied. Narrow sense heritability of family means (h²f) ranged from 0.514 to 0.443 and was consistently higher than that calculated on individual tree basis (h²i) for each growth traits. A genetic gain of 13.37% in height growth and 12.04% in dbh at age 22 years is expected to be realized by selecting best 30% (18 out of 58) of families in combination with retaining best five of total ten trees in each family plot (50% selection intensity at within-family level) of these selected families.

Evaluation of Aluminum Phosphide Against Wood-Destroying Insects

Aluminum phosphide, a well-known stored grain fumigant, available in solid formulation, has shown promise as wood fumigant. This chemical decomposes to phosphine when exposed to moisture. The feasibility of fumigant treatment to extend the service life of wood was evaluated in a small block test of two wood species. Hard wood (Mangifera indica L.) and conifer blocks (Pinus roxburghii Sargent) were fumigated with different concentrations (0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 0.8, and 1.6%) of aluminum phosphide. Fumigated blocks were exposed to Lyctus africanus Lesne (Coleoptera; Lyctidae) larvae. Results revealed that aluminum phosphide showed complete mortality of Lyctus larvae at 0.2% concentration, that is, 0.93 g/m3 retention level. Mean mortality of 74% of Lyctus larvae was observed in soft wood blocks fumigated with lowest concentration, that is, 0.05% of aluminum phosphide, whereas in hard wood blocks > 85% mortality was observed at this concentration.

Analgesic and Anti-Inflammatory Activity of Pinus roxburghii Sarg.

The Chir Pine, Pinus roxburghii, named after William Roxburgh, is a pine native to the Himalaya. Pinus roxburghii Sarg. (Pinaceae) is traditionally used for several medicinal purposes in India. As the oil of the plant is extensively used in number of herbal preparation for curing inflammatory disorders, the present study was undertaken to assess analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities of its bark extract. Dried and crushed leaves of Pinus roxburghii Sarg. were defatted with petroleum ether and then extracted with alcohol. The alcoholic extract at the doses of 100 mg/kg, 300 mg/kg, and 500 mg/kg body weight was subjected to evaluation of analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities in experimental animal models. Analgesic activity was evaluated by acetic acid-induced writhing and tail immersion tests in Swiss albino mice; acute and chronic anti-inflammatory activity was evaluated by carrageenan-induced paw oedema and cotton pellet granuloma in Wistar albino rats. Diclofenac sodium and indomethacin were employed as reference drugs for analgesic and anti-inflammatory studies, respectively. In the present study, the alcoholic bark extract of Pinus roxburghii Sarg. demonstrated significant analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities in the tested models.

Seasonal variations in species diversity, dry matter and net primary productivity of herb layer of Quercus leucotrichophora-Pinus roxburghii mixed forest in Kumaun Himalaya, India

Plant biomass, species diversity and net primary productivity are presented for herb layer of banj oak (Quercus leucotrichophora A. Camus)-chir pine (Pinus roxburghii Sarg.) mixed forest in Kumaun, central Himalaya, India. The species diversity declined from a maximum (3.56) in September to a minimum (2.11) in December. The monthly live shoots biomass exhibited a single peak growth pattern with highest live shoot biomass of 185 g·m−2 in August. The seasonal pattern showed that the maximum above-ground production (131 g·m−2) occurred during the rainy season and the minimum (1 g·m−2) during winter season. The below-ground production was maximum during winter season (84 g·m−2) and minimum during summer season (34 g·m−2). The annual net shoot production was 171 g·m−2 and total below-ground production was 165 g·m−2. Of the total input 61% was channeled to above-ground parts and 39% to below-ground parts. Transfer of live shoots to dead shoots compartments and that of dead shoots to litter compartments was 61% and 66%, respectively. The total dry matter disappearance was 61% of the total input within annual cycle. The herb layer showed a net accumulation of organic matter, indicating the seral nature of the community.

The public finance potential of community forestry in Nepal

This paper explores the public finance potential of community forestry in Nepal on the basis of a comprehensive dataset on forest revenue and expenditures of 41 randomly selected community-forest user groups (CFUG) from Gorkha district. The results show that CFUG income distribution is highly skewed; the high- and low-income one-third of CFUGs in the sample account for 74.3 and 4.1% of the total income, respectively. CFUG income depends on age of the CFUG institution, CFUG membership size, and, in particular, on whether the community forest features the valuable timber species Sal (Shorea robusta, C. F. Gaertn.) and/or Chir Pine ( Pinus roxburghii Sarg.). CFUG expenditure pattern is also highly skewed, with 85.2% of all public services and infrastructure financed by the one-third high-income CFUGs. CFUG financing of public services and infrastructure is shaped by income, management costs, and socio-political and contextual factors, such as whether the CFUG jurisdiction covers several wards and the presence of existing public infrastructure in the community. Finally, results show that the amounts of revenue generated through community forestry are negligible when compared to households' private gains from extraction of products from community forests, indicating a limited potential for redistribution of benefits under the current taxation system.

Seasonal influences on the rooting response of Chir pine (Pinus roxburghii Sarg.)

Rooting ability of the vegetative cutting depends upon the various factors: age, size, and diameter of cutting, season, rooting substrate and concentration of the applied growth hormone. For assessing the seasonal variation in rooting ability of shoot, cuttings were taken from 4 year old hedges. Shoot cuttings were collected after every two months of hedging spring (March), summer (June), autumn (September) and winter (December) and treated with 4000 ppm Indole Butyric Acid (IBA), mixed with talc powder and planted in vermiculite filled beds. Suitable control was also maintained, wherein only talc powder was applied to the basal portion of cuttings. Periodical observations were taken on cuttings, with regard to root initiation. The cuttings were uprooted after 12 weeks of planting and observations were recorded. Highly significant differences were observed between root length, shoot length, number of roots per cutting and rooting percentage. This has led to the evaluation of a standard technique for application of mass clonal propagation of Chir pine during summer season (June), which would result into a good success in rooting percentage. This technique could also be helpful in the establishment of germplasm banks of desired genotypes and Clonal Seed Orchards (CSOs). Further, this will also help in overcoming the problem of stock and scion incompatibility, which is commonly faced, when Clonal Seed Orchards are established through grafted material.

Potential for Developing Fire Histories in Chir Pine (Pinus roxburghii) Forests in the Himalayan Foothills

Abstract We report on the potential for developing long-term fire histories from chir pine (Pinus roxburghii Sarg.) forests in the Western Himalayan foothills based on a preliminary study from a stand located in the state of Uttarakhand in northern India. Rings from trees collected to develop a master skeleton plot chronology were generally complacent with false rings present during most years, but were crossdatable with only minor difficulty. The oldest tree confidently crossdated back to 1886, with good sample depth (5 trees) from 1911, which helped date the fire scars in cross-sections collected from three trees. Fire frequency as determined from fire-scar dates was high, with mean and median fire intervals of 3 years from 1938 to 2006. Fires were likely from human ignitions given the prevalence of human land use in the site. Fire scars were generally recorded at false-ring boundaries and likely represent burning during the hot, dry period in May or early June before the onset of monsoon rainfall begin...

Variation in soluble extractives, lignin and holocellose content of wood of high resin yielders and check trees in Chirpine (Pinus Roxburghii Sargent)

The present studies were conducted on variation in soluble extractives, lignin and holocellose content of wood of high resin yielders (HRYs) and check trees in Chir pine (Pinus roxburghii). The data on cold and hot water solubility, alcohol-benzene solubility, lignin content and holocellulose content of wood exhibited significant variation in different high resin yielders and check trees in Chir pine. Among different marked trees, the highest cold water solubility and hot water solubility was noticed in Jhojonbailly-check. UHF-4 HRY recorded maximum percentage of alcohol-benzene solubility. Lowest cold and hot water solubility was obtained for Ghandir-1 and minimum per cent of alcohol-benzene solubility was recorded in Sarkaghat check. Maximum percentage of lignin and holocellulose content was observed in Bumbloo-check and UHF-4 HRY, respectively. Whereas, minimum percentage of lignin and holocellulose was found in Hareta Road-6 and Platu-2 HRY, respectively.

Genetic variation in wood specific gravity among half-sib families of chir pine (Pinus roxburghii sargent)

Chir pine (Pinus roxburghii) is an important tree species that grows all along the Himalayas. Wood specific gravity of chir pine before and after removal of extractives from wood increment cores was assessed from a 22-years-old progeny test in Himachal Pradesh, India. These values averaged 0.433 and 0.425, respectively. A large amount of genetic variation among the 58 half-sib families was found as indicated by range of values, additive coefficient of variation, variance estimates and narrow-sense heritability values for these traits. Moisture and extractive content averaged 86.259% of oven-dry weight and 2.003% of extractive-free oven-dry weight, respectively. Wood extractive content was highly variable and the family differences were highly heritable (hf2 = 0.5831). There was wide variability in moisture content, but a large portion of it was due to environmental or non-additive component of genetic variation. Heritability on family mean basis was found to be lower than that on individual tree basis for each trait. Estimated gain in specific gravity resulting from 30 to 50% family selection ranged from 0.0080 to 0.0127. Growth data and specific gravity were not significantly correlated implying that selection for higher growth rate would not necessarily result in reduction in wood specific gravity in chir pine.

Structure and composition of vegetation in subtropical forest of Kumaun Himalaya

An extensive sampling was conducted for vegetational analysis in different forest sites between 1600 and 2600 m asl in Kumaun Himalaya. Quercus leucotrichophora A. Campus, Quercus floribunda Lindl. ex Rehder, Quercus semecarpifolia J. E. Smith and Pinus roxburghii Sarg. are the dominant tree species in Banj-oak, Tilonj-oak, Kharsu-oak and Chir-pine forests, respectively.Among the sampling sites, total density of tree, shrub and herb species was ranged from 10 to 28.6 individuals (indv/100 m2) 1.8 to 21.7 indv/25 m2, and 28.1 to 103.7 indv/m2, respectively. The total abundance-frequency (AF) ratio of tree, shrub and herb species across the sampling sites varied from 0.23 to 1.25, 0.25 to 1.79 and 3.4 to 27.3, respectively. The abundance-frequency ratio in the present study showed contagious distribution pattern in tree, shrub and herb species. Key words: Species composition, density, frequency, distribution pattern, Kumaun Himalayan forest.

Volume prediction model for Chir pine (Pinus roxburghii Sargent)

The study was conducted on Chir pine stand (Pinus roxburghii Sargent) at Barog range (R-31) under Solan Forest Division (H.P.) during the year 2004-2005, to develop volume prediction model based allometric relationships between stand volume and stem growth parameters (DBH and Height). Among various linear and non-linear function, both log-linear and power function performed comparatively better over other functions. In both the functions, DBH and Height parameters explained 99 per cent and 95 per cent of variation in the stem volume, respectively. However, the power function outperformed the log-linear function, when data were subjected to chi-square test of goodness of fit and thereafter using Theil-U test. The predicted volumes based on DBH and Height was cross validated and the DBH proved to be the best predictive parameter for stem volume estimation.

Association analysis on seed physical, germination and seedling traits in Pinus roxburghii Sargent

Data on 42 seed sources of Pinus roxburghii were recorded for different characters. Genotypic and phenotypic correlation coefficients between different pairs of characters were worked out which became insufficient to explain relationship among characters. Therefore, direct and indirect causes of association were identified with the help of path coefficient analysis which revealed that 100-seed weight (0.507), needle length (0.456), seedling height (0.422), and collar diameter (0.140) contributed directly to shoot dry weight thereby, indicating that these characters may be considered as effective traits for selection, for increasing the ultimate yield i.e shoot dry weight.

Genetic variability in wood and oleoresin characteristics of high resin yielders in Chir pine (Pinus roxburghii Sargent)

Genetic variability in wood and oleoresins traits of twenty six high resin yielders (HRYs) and ten check trees of Pinus roxburghii was studied. These traits were quantitatively measured for bark percentage of wood, specific gravity of wood, tracheid length, cold and hot water soluble extractives, alcohol-benzene extractives, lignin and holocellulose percentage of wood, number of resin ducts, diameter of resin ducts, needle length, needle thickness, turpentine percentage, specific gravity of turpentine, relative flow rate of turpentine, rosin percentage, specific gravity of rosin and ash percentage of rosin. The highest heritability was observed for hot water soluble extractives, lignin percentage of wood and rosin percentage followed by bark percentage of wood, cold water soluble extractives and turpentine percentage. The maximum genetic advance was recorded in rosin percentage followed by lignin percentage of wood. The highest genetic gain was obtained in bark percentage of wood preceded by number of resin ducts whereas, phenotypic and genotypic coefficient of variation was highest in number of resin ducts followed by bark percentage of wood. Hence, bark percentage of wood, tracheid length, cold and hot water soluble extractives, lignin percentage of wood, number of resin ducts, diameter of resin ducts, needle length, turpentine and rosin percentage should be considered as effective parameter for the selection of high resin yielders (HRYs) in Pinus roxburghii Sargent.

Pollen-mediated gene flow in Himalayan long needle pine (Pinus roxburghii Sargent)

Pollen migration in Pinus roxburghii has been estimated under two different conditions, viz. isolated single trees and at the fringe of natural forest. Trapping of pollen grains was conducted at geometrically increasing distances, i.e., 0, 5, 10, 20, 40, 80, 160, 320, 640, 1280 and 2560 m from the source. The observations revealed that the scattering of pollen grains was not uniform in all directions and that they travelled up to 2.5 km towards the downhill direction, while in the uphill direction dispersion of pollen grains was restricted to 320 m from the source. Pollen frequency declined rapidly as the distance from the source increased, with the highest densities within 50–100 m.

Pinus roxburghii: Standardization of Grafting Techniques for Establishment of Clonal Seed Orchards

Pinus roxburghii Sargent (Chir pine) is one of the important species among the six Himalayan pines. Like other forest species, Chir pine is a wind-pollinated conifer characterized by a considerable variation. Since clonal multiplication through grafting is one of the best techniques to provide viable, improved propagating stocks in large quantities for further utilization in clonal seed orchards for the production of superior seed. Keeping in view the importance of chir pine for the lower Himalayan areas, work on standardization of grafting technique was undertaken. Various grafting techniques were employed to achieve high grafting rate. A success of 29.55 per cent under partial shade and 46.79 per cent in open conditions have been achieved through top bud cleft grafting.

Genetic variability and association studies in chir pine (Pinus roxburghii Sargent)

The Chir pine trees of 30-40 cm diameter were selected for oleoresin tapping in the campus area of Dr. Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan (Himachal Pradesh) during the years 2001 and 2002. Maximum heritability, genetic advance, genetic gain, genotypic and phenotypic coefficient of variance was observed for oleoresin yield in Chir pine. Maximum oleoresin yield was recorded of trees having dark green needles and the trees producing oleoresin of white colour were poor resin yielder.

Water Absorption and Leaching Loss of Leaf Litters Used as Manure in Central Himalaya, India.

To explore the influence of substrate type on water absorption and leaching loss, leaf litter of a deciduous broad-leaf species frequenting agricultural terraces – Bhimal (Grewia optiva Dumm. Ex Burret.), evergreen broad-leaf – Oak (Quercus incana L.), conifers – Deodar (Cedrus deodara Roxb.) and Pine (Pinus roxburghii Sarg.) were compared in a laboratory study. Fresh leaf litter of these species was immersed for 16 days in deionized water at room temperature (-230C). Samples were taken at 2, 5, 18, 24, 48, 72, 96, 192 and 384 hours. Depending on the species the litter lost between 10.9 to 39% of initial dry mass, while water absorption values were between 157 to 307% of dry mass. Water soluble substances including minerals (ash) contributed maximum to the mass losses. Bhimal litter was distinguished by its high water absorption and high mass losses during leaching. In general, the conifers (Pine and Deodar) and broad leaved (Oak) trees from natural vegetation had low water soluble substances and exhibited mass losses in comparison to the Bhimal that grows only on agricultural fields.