Is Chir Pine Displacing Banj Oak in the Central Himalaya?
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University of Arkansas, Fayetteville ScholarWorks@UARK Theses and Dissertations 7-2015 Is Chir Pine Displacing Banj Oak in the Central Himalaya? Socioeconomic Implications for Local People and the Conservation of Oak Forest Biodiversity Ankush Nautiyal University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd Part of the Biodiversity Commons, Forest Biology Commons, and the Natural Resources and Conservation Commons Recommended Citation Nautiyal, Ankush, "Is Chir Pine Displacing Banj Oak in the Central Himalaya? Socioeconomic Implications for Local People and the Conservation of Oak Forest Biodiversity" (2015). Theses and Dissertations. 1330. http://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/1330 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UARK. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UARK. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Is Chir Pine Displacing Banj Oak in the Central Himalaya? Socioeconomic Implications for Local People and the Conservation of Oak Forest Biodiversity A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Biology by Ankush Nautiyal Gobind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology Bachelor of Science in Agriculture, 2008 July 2015 University of Arkansas This dissertation is approved for recommendation to the Graduate Council. ________________________ Dr. Steven L. Stephenson Dissertation Director ________________________ ________________________ Dr. David W. Stahle Dr. Douglas A. James Committee Member Committee Member ________________________ Dr. Kimberly G. Smith Committee Member ABSTRACT Various studies have suggested that chir pine (Pinus roxburghii) is replacing banj oak (Quercus leucotrichophora) in the Central Himalaya. Five sites with three different types of forests (banj oak, chir pine and mixed oak-pine) were sampled to compare the diversity of their vegetation and to assess the impact of this ongoing conversion on biodiversity. Soil samples collected from oak and pine forests were analyzed and compared. In addition, dendrochronology was used to obtain age estimates of chir pine and to understand the growth response of this species to precipitation. Also, samples of ectomycorrhizal fungi were collected in the form of fruiting bodies and root tips of banj oak and chir pine for DNA analysis, to identify the species associated with these forest types. Since these forests are heavily exploited by local people, social surveys were carried out to understand the dependency of the local people on these forests and their awareness and opinions relating to the current situation of the banj oak degradation, its consequences for them and the reasons behind it. Analysis of tree rings of chir pine indicated a positive cool season precipitation response in earlywood and a negative response to warm season precipitation in latewood, which indicate that an increase in summer rainfall associated with anthropogenic climate change could adversely affect the chir pine. Banj oak does not form reliable annual rings, so we do not have any information regarding the potential impact of climate variability or change on banj oak growth. Overall, banj oak forests were found to be richer in terms of soil fertility, tree and shrub diversity as compared to the chir pine forests. Tree ring data suggested that the mixed forest at Jakholi site was actually an oak forest that got encroached upon by the chir pine. Based on the observations, data and results obtained during this study, it can be concluded that the banj oak forests are declining and chir pine is displacing banj oak in the Central Himalaya. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First of all, I would like to thank Dr. Stephenson for being such a great mentor and providing me with his guidance, help and support throughout my Ph.D. program. I feel blessed to have him as my mentor since he showed more faith in my capabilities than I did myself, which was the biggest motivating factor. I will strive to reach the level of dedication he has for his work. I would like to thank Dr. Stahle for the enormous amount of help and guidance that he provided. I also appreciate that he let me use his lab and resources for my research work. I feel blessed that I received training under such a great teacher. I would like to thank Dr. James, Dr. Smith and Dr. Huxel for their valuable suggestions and help. I am grateful to my committee members for being so kind to me and providing me their help whenever I asked for it. I appreciate Dr. Jeffrey Silberman for letting me use his lab and resources for my genetics project. I am thankful to the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) for accepting me as an external Ph.D. scholar. I would like to thank Dr. G.S. Rawat (WII) and Dr. Ramesh Krishnamurthy (WII) for being my co-advisors in India, helping me to obtain permission for my field work in Indian forests and providing me with their guidance and facilities for my field work. Also, I am grateful to the Forest Department of Uttarakhand for granting me permission to carry out my field work. And I want to thank Amit Kumar and Dr. Gajendra Singh Rawat for helping me with my field work and species identification. I would like to express my gratitude to my mother, Mrs. Usha Nautiyal for always being there for me in every step of my life, including my Ph.D. She was the biggest support system for my field work. I thank her for facilitating my field work by arranging all the amenities I needed. I did most of my field work during the monsoon season, which is the most difficult and dangerous season to work in my study region. Without her help and good management, things would have been much more difficult. I would like to thank my brothers Hemant and Himanshu Nautiyal for motivating and encouraging me to come to a completely foreign country to pursue my higher education in the field in which I could enjoy working and also facilitating my admission process. In addition, I wish to thank them for helping me with whatever help I needed, sometimes without even asking for it. I would like to thank my husband Chase Ross for the help he provided by volunteering in various components of my research, especially the enormous amount of much needed help he provided in editing my dissertation. It would have been very difficult to do this gigantic task without his help, for which I am grateful to him. I also want to thank my cousins Shashank and Mayank Bhatt for their help and participation in my field work. Also, I appreciate the help provided by Akshay Uniyal and Vinish Naithani, who volunteered during my field work. And last but not the least; I want to thank all those volunteers, friends and relatives who contributed in some way or the other in the successful completion of this Ph.D. DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my mother Mrs. Usha Nautiyal, who has been there for me like a support system upon which I could always rely. She always kept my happiness and needs above her own, and whatever I am today is because of her sacrifices. She is the best manager I have ever known. I hope I can reach to her level someday. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... 1 Works Cited .................................................................................................................... 8 CHAPTER 2. BACKGROUND INFORMATION REGARDING THE STUDY REGION AND THE CURRENT STUDY ..................................................................................... 9 History behind the banj oak decline.............................................................................. 15 Other factors contributing in banj oak decline .............................................................. 22 Banj oak vs chir pine competitive abilities ................................................................... 24 Works Cited .................................................................................................................. 30 CHAPTER 3. COMPARISON BETWEEN VEGETATIONAL COMPOSITION OF CHIR PINE AND BANJ OAK FORESTS AND ANAYLYSIS OF SIZE CLASS DISTRIUTIONS TO PREDICT THE FUTURE OF THE BANJ OAK POPULATIONS AT THE STUDY SITES.............................................................................................................................. 32 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 32 Research Problems ........................................................................................................ 33 Methods......................................................................................................................... 33 General Study Area ................................................................................................... 33 Vegetational sampling .............................................................................................. 45 Results and Data Analysis ............................................................................................ 52 Discussion and Conclusions ......................................................................................... 54 Works Cited: ................................................................................................................. 98 CHAPTER 4. SOIL ANALYSIS. ....................................................................................