JOURNAL OF SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION NEW SERIES Vol. 15, No. 3 ISSN 0022–457X JULY-SEPTEMBER 2016 Contents Changes in vegetation cover and soil erosion in a forest watershed on removal of weed Lantana camara in 193 lower Shivalik region of Himalayas - PAWAN SHARMA, A.K. TIWARI, V.K. BHATT and K. SATHIYA Salt affected soils in Jammu and Kashmir: Their management for enhancing productivity 199 - R.D. GUPTA and SANJAY ARORA Runoff and soil loss estimation using hydrological models, remote sensing and GIS in Shivalik foothills: a review 205 - ABRAR YOUSUF and M. J. SINGH Irrigation water management strategies for wheat under sodic environment 211 - ATUL KUMAR SINGH, SANJAY ARORA, Y. P. SINGH, C. L. VERMA, A. K. BHARDWAJ and NAVNEET SHARMA Geosptatial technology in soil resource inventory and land capability assessment for sustainable 218 development – Wayanad District, Kerala - Y. SURESH KUMAR, N.S. GAHLOD and V.S. ARYA Impact of Albizia procera benth. based agroforestry system on soil quality in Bundelkhand region of Central India 226 - RAJENDRA PRASAD, RAM NEWAJ, V.D. TRIPATHI, N.K. SAROJ, PRASHANT SINGH, RAMESH SINGH, AJIT and O.P. CHATURVEDI Comparative study of reference evapotranspiration estimation methods including Artificial Neural Network for 233 dry sub-humid agro-ecological region - SASWAT KUMAR KAR, A.K. NEMA, ABHISHEK SINGH, B.L. SINHA and C.D. MISHRA Efficient use of jute agro textiles as soil conditioner to increase chilli productivity on inceptisol of West Bengal 242 - NABANITA ADHIKARI, ARIF DISHA, ANGIRA PRASAD MAHATA, ARUNABHA PAL, RAHUL ADHIKARI, MILAN SARDAR, ANANYA SAHA, SANJIB KUMAR BAURI, P. K. TARAFDAR and SUSANTA KUMAR DE Artificial Neural Network models for disaggregation of monsoon season runoff series for a hilly watershed 246 - RAJDEV PANWAR and DEVENDRA KUMAR Institutional dynamics of Mopane woodland management in Bulilima district of Zimbabwe 252 - MKHOKHELI SITHOLE Soil carbon stocks in natural and man-made agri-horti-silvipastural land use systems in dry zones of Southern India 258 - M.S. NAGARAJA, A.K. BHARDWAJ, G.V.P. REDDY, V.R.R. PARAMA and B. KAPHALIYA Watershed based drainage morphometric analysis using Geographical Information System and Remote Sensing 265 of Kashmir Valley - ROHITASHW KUMAR, IFRA ASHRAF, TANZEEL KHAN, NYREEN HAMID, J. N. KHAN, OWAIS AHMAD BHAT and D. RAM Short Communication Effect of long term application of organic and inorganic fertilizers on soil moisture and yield of maize 273 under rainfed conditions - DANISH ZARI, VIVAK M. ARYA, VIKAS SHARMA, P.K. RAI, B. C. SHARMA, CHARU SHARMA, SWEETA MANHAS and K.R. SHARMA All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent courts and forums in Delhi/New Delhi only • The Society does not assume any responsibility for opinions offered by the authors in the articles and no material in any form can be reproduced without permission of the Society • The Society is not responsible for any delay, whatsoever, in publication/delivery of the periodicals to the subscribers due to unforeseen circumstances or postal delay • Readers are recommended to make appropriate enquiries before sending money, incurring expenses or entering into commitments in relation to any advertisement appearing in this publication. The Society does not vouch for any claims made by the advertisers of products and services. The publisher and the editors of the publication shall not be held liable for any consequences in the event of such claims not being honoured by the advertisers. Pledge J.S. Bali I pledge to conserve Soil, that sustains me. I pledge to conserve Water, that is vital for life. I care for Plants and Animals and the Wildlife, which sustain me. I pledge to work for adaptation to, and mitigation of Global Warming. I pledge to remain devoted, to the management of all Natural Resources, With harmony between Ecology and Economics. July-September 2016] CHANGES IN VEGETATION COVER 193 Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 15(3): 193-198, July-September 2016 ISSN: 022-457X Changes in vegetation cover and soil erosion in a forest watershed on removal of weed Lantana camara in lower Shivalik region of Himalayas PAWAN SHARMA1, A.K. TIWARI2, V.K. BHATT1 and K. SATHIYA3 Received: 13 June 2016; Accepted: 22 August 2016 ABSTRACT In a hilly forest watershed located in lower Shivalik region, the invasion of Lantana camara weed resulted in a drastic reduction in plant biodiversity and ground cover, thereby increasing the rate of soil erosion. In order to reduce soil erosion and restore biodiversity, Lantana was removed from four micro-watersheds (WS1, WS2, WS3, and WS5) in year 2005. The changes in soil erosion and vegetation cover area in the ground storey (grasses + small shrubs) and middle storey (shrubs) were monitored in top, middle and lower reaches of four micro watersheds during the period 2005-2010 and were compared with a pure grass watershed (WS4) located in the same watershed. Due to Lantana removal, the canopy cover of Lantana reduced from 80-90% in 2005 to 5-10% in 2009, resulting in better light penetration and improvement in ground cover vegetation of native grasses like Eulaliopsis binata, Chrysopogon fulvus, seasonal grasses, and native shrubs like Adhatoda vasica, Murraya koenigii. There was a reduction in soil loss in all the watersheds in 2010, which was found directly related to the ground cover improvement, mainly in the top reaches of micro- watersheds. It is concluded that the ground vegetation cover plays a major role in soil erosion and its reduction due to of Lantana camara invasion has a direct impact on hydrological behavior of the watershed. The removal of this weed can restore ground vegetation thereby reducing soil erosion. Key words: Forest watershed, Lantana camara, Lower Himalayas, Run off, Shivaliks, Soil erosion, Soil loss, Vegetation cover INTRODUCTION Lantana (Lantana camara) is a major weed in gradual decrease in soil loss from 37 Mg ha -1 yr-1 to many tropical and sub-tropical regions where it just 1.0 Mg ha-1 yr-1 during the period 1964 to 1985. invades natural and agricultural ecosystems and However, this reducing trend was reversed after the forest watersheds and has been nominated as invasion of Lantana camara during the period 1990- among 100 of the “World’s Worst” invaders (Day 2000, along with suppression of native vegetation et al., 2003). In disturbed native forests, it can and a drastic reduction in evenness index and become the dominant under-storey species, Shannon biodiversity index (Sharma et al., 2009). disrupting succession and decreasing biodiversity The available chronological data on vegetation and due to its allellopathic qualities (Luna et al., 2007; soil loss from this forest watershed suggests that Talukdar and Talukdar, 2016). In a watershed, the the reduction in ground cover due to dominance dense stands of Lantana camara are reported to of Lantana has resulted in increase in soil erosion, reduce the ground grass cover thereby lowering thereby increasing the threat to forest ecosystem its capacity to absorb rain, increasing the run-off stability and water resource management (Sharma and soil erosion (Fensham et al., 1994; Day et al., et al., 2009). The present study was conducted to 2003; Thakur et al., 2013). In an earlier study study the impact of Lantana removal on vegetation conducted in degraded forest watershed at cover and changes in run off and soil loss in four Research farm, CSWCRTI (now IISWC), lantana infested micro-watersheds and compare it Chandigarh, bioengineering measures resulted in with that of grassed watershed. 1Principal Scientist, 2Head, 3Scientist, ICAR-IISWC, Sector 27 A, Madhya Marg, Chandigarh-160019, India; Email: [email protected], [email protected] 194 SHARMA et al. [Journal of Soil & Water Conservation 15(3) MATERIALS AND METHODS obtaining an optimum runoff and reduction in soil loss, vegetation manipulation was started from Site description 2005-06 onwards with the removal of Lantana The study was conducted in five micro- camara from all the micro-watersheds. Fifty per cent crown of each tree was also removed to allow the watershed (WS1, WS2, WS3, WS4 and WS5) located in Shivalik Himalayan region at ICAR-IISWC light to penetrate to the ground floor to encourage Research Farm, Mansa Devi, Panchkula, Haryana the natural vegetation and to improve the ground (Latitude 30o-45’ N and Longitude 70o-45’ E, 370m cover. The canopy cover in the top and the middle above msl) with characteristics as given in Table 1. tier was maintained by continuous removal of The soil was sandy-to-sandy loam in texture with regenerated canopy every year. full of boulders, low in nutrients as well as water Measurement of run-off and soil loss holding capacity and was classified as class VII e and light textured hyperthermic, Udic Ustocrept Rainfall, run-off and soil loss data were (Grewal et al., 1996). The area was highly degraded monitored every year in the watershed during the due to frequent soil erosion and it receives an period 2005-10. All the micro-watersheds are being annual rainfall of more than 1100 mm. The gauged by 0.6m deep 2:1 broad crested triangular watersheds had slope between 30 to 50% and area weirs. The runoff was measured by automatic ranged from 0.81 ha to 4.75 ha. Bioengineering water level recorders. The rainfall was recorded measures resulted in stabilization of these by recording type of rain gauge and the run-off watersheds with improvement in vegetation cover was gauged by 0.6 m deep 2:1 broad crested and reduction in soil erosion. The invasion of triangular weirs. The soil loss was determined by ingress and proliferation of Lantana camara L. analyzing the run-off samples collected from time (verbenaceae) during late eighties, resulted in poor to time.