INSIDE FRONT COVER Volume 4 Issue 6 2007 Page 1–76 ISSN 1727 5210 Himalayan Journal Online Editor Assistant Editors Full text of all papers, guide to Kumar P Mainali Ripu M Kunwar authors, resources for writing and Shishir Paudel other materials are available at Executive Editor Bharat B Shrestha www.himjsci.com Arjun Adhikari Rajan Tripathee Contact GPO Box 5275, Language Editor Editorial Assistant Kathmandu, Nepal; Tel: 977-1- Seth Sicroff Kanak B Kshetri 5525313 O, 2020770 R (preferred); email: [email protected] Advisory Board Ram P Chaudhary Bishwambher Pyakuryal Professor, Central Department Professor, Central Department of of Botany, Tribhuvan University, Economics, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal Kathmandu, Nepal Monique Fort Sahotra Sarkar Professor, Centre de Geographie Professor, Section of Integrative Physique, University of Paris, France Biology and Department of Philosophy, University of Texas at Austin, USA Mohan B Gewali Professor, Central Department of Madhusudhan Upadhyaya Chemistry, Tribhuvan University, Nepal Agricultural Research Council Kathmandu, Nepal Khumaltar, Lalitpur, Nepal Jack Ives Teiji Watanabe Professor, Department of Geography Associate Professor, Hokkaido and Environmental Studies, Carleton University, Japan University, Ottawa, Canada Pralad Yonzon Pramod K Jha Chairperson, Resources Himalaya Professor, Central Department Foundation, Lalitpur, Nepal of Botany, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal Price Uday R Khanal Personal : NRs 100.00 Professor, Central Department Institutional : NRs 300.00 of Physics, Tribhuvan University, Outside Nepal : US $ 10.00 Kathmandu, Nepal Reviewers of this issue Katsuhiko Asahi Shawn Marshall Víctor Sánchez-Cordero Faculty of Environmental Earth Department of Geography, University Institute of Biology, Science, Hokkaido University, N-10, W- of Calgary, Alberta, Canada National Autonomous 5, Sapporo, 060-0810 Japan University of Mexico, Arvid Odland Mexico Mukesh K Chalise Telemark University College, Hallvard Central Department of Zoology, Eikas Plass, 3800 Bø, Norway Bhim Subedi Tribhuvan Univeristy, Kathmandu, Central Department of Geography, Nepal Durga D Poudel Tribhuvan University, Department of Renewable Resources, Kathmandu, Nepal Nakul Chettri University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Natural Resources Management USA Bhaba P Tripathi Programme, International Centre for IRRI Nepal Office, Integrated Mountain Development Kanta Poudyal Singha Durbar Plaza, (ICIMOD) Amrit Science Campus, Kathmandu, Kathmandu Nepal Nepal Suresh Kumar Ghimire Madhusudan P Upadhya Central Department of Botany, GS Rawat National Agriculture Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Wildlife Institute of India, Research Center, Nepal Chandrabani, Dehra Dun, India Khumaltar, Lalitpur, Nepal Pramod Kumar Jha Harutaka Sakai Central Department of Botany, Graduate School of Science, Division Pralad Yonzon Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Resource Himalaya Foundation, Nepal Kyushu University, Japan Lalitpur, Nepal www.himjsci.com Thematic Focus Schedule For the next issue (Vol 5, Issue 8; Sept 2008), “Himalayan Journal of Sciences” will have a double focus: • Primary: Medical science and technology (including traditional medicine) in the Himalayan region • Secondary: Agricultural adjustments to climate change We will have two online e-conferences to discuss these topics in August 2008, and the wrap-up papers will be published. We also invite articles (feature, research, book review) on these themes. Please note that HJS will also include articles from other fields, but we will give priority to the focal topics. Subsequent HJS issues will have the following focus priorities: • Primary: Major mountain infrastructure (dams, roads, bridges, airstrips) • Secondary: Energy challenges and opportunities • Primary: Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) • Secondary: Juniper and/or rhododendron • Primary: Computers, Internet and globalization • Secondary: Gender equity and other issues The extended schedule (beyond 2008) is provisional. We seek you feedback on these www.himjsci.com and other focal areas. Please visit our Web site for updates and discussion. Volume 4 Issue 6 2007 Page 1–76 ISSN 1727 5210 editorial policy and development An open access database for Himalayan Acts of God are not the problem environmental management Human negligence turns hazards into Environmental management in the disasters Himalayas requires creation of a database Seth Sicroff with collaborative public sharing of data Page 11–19 Sahotra Sarkar Page 7–8 Volunteer expedition brings modern health care to Rolwaling commentary Pepper Etters Page 14–15 Himalayan Journal of Road to ruin Sciences Tough laws won’t save poor nation’s An assessment of contemporary glacier Volume 4, Issue 6, 2007 fluctuations in Nepal’s Khumbu Himal using Page 1-76 ecosystems until the impacts of developments are taken seriously repeat photography Cover image: retreating William Laurance Alton C Byers glaciers in the Himalayas; Page 9 Page 21–26 story p 21 research paper Conservation area networks for the Indian Plant species richness and composition in region: Systematic methods and future a trans-Himalayan inner valley of Manang prospects district, central Nepal Sahotra Sarkar, Michael Mayfield, Susan Mohan P Panthi, Ram P Chaudhary and Ole Cameron, Trevon Fuller and Justin Garson R Vetaas Page 27–40 Page 57–64 Expansion of an ancient lake in the Production of haploid wheat plants from Kathmandu basin of Nepal during the wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) x maize Late Pleistocene evidenced by lacustrine (Zea mays L.) cross system sediment underlying piedmont slope Raj K Niroula, Hari P Bimb, Dhruva B Thapa, Kiyoshi Saijo and Kazuo Kimura Bindeswor P Sah and Sanothos Nayak Page 41–48 Page 65–69 Phenology and water relations of eight Distribution pattern and habitat preference woody species in the Coronation Garden of Published by of barking deer (Muntiacus muntjac Himalayan Association for Kirtipur, central Nepal Zimmermann) in Nagarjun forest, the Advancement of Science Bharat B Shrestha, Yadav Uprety, Keshav Kathmandu Lalitpur, Nepal Nepal, Sandhya Tripathi and Pramod K Jha Ajaya Nagarkoti and Tej Bahadur Thapa GPO Box No. 2838 Page 49–56 Page 70–74 Editorial Policy Himalayan Journal of Sciences (ISSN 1727 5210 print issue and 1727 5229 online) is a peer-reviewed annual multi-disciplinary journal. HJS invites authors to share their expertise, discoveries and speculations. Mission Statement: HJS is dedicated to the promotion of scientific research, informed discourse, and enlightened stewardship of natural and cultural systems in the Himalayan region. Scope: The problems and opportunities confronting the Himalayan region are so broad and interrelated as to resist treatment within traditional academic disciplines; accordingly, the Himalayan Journal of Sciences publishes articles of scientific merit based on investigations in all fields of enquiry pertinent to the natural and cultural systems of the Himalayan region. Contribution Categories: HJS publishes works pertinent to the scope of the journal in the following categories: a) Research papers: Report on original research; b) Review papers: Thorough account of current developments and trajectories in a given field; c) Articles: Narrowly-focused account of current development in a given field; d) Editorial: Opinionated essay on an issue of public interest; e) Essay: Similar to editorial but longer and more comprehensive; may include tables and figures; f) Commentary and Correspondence: Persuasive and informed commentary on any topical issues or on articles published in prior issues of the journal; g) Policy and development: Usually a hybrid of opinion and review papers covering a broad topic with rigorous analysis of the issue and bearing on policies relating to science and/or development. The focus may be rather specific, and it may contain primary data or new model of substantial significance; h) Resource review: Evaluation of books, websites, CD-ROMs, and other resources; i) Publication preview: Description of forthcoming books; j) Announcement: Notice of forthcoming conferences, seminars, workshops, and other events. Guide to Authors Guide to authors is available online at www.himjsci.com. Please choose “Article preparation and submission” menu and select “Guide to authors”. Permission We grant permission to make digital or hard copies of part or all of any article published in HJS for personal or educational use. There is no fee for such use. However, the first page or screen of the display should include the notice “Copyright © [YEAR OF PUBLICATION] by the Himalayan Association for the Advancement of Science,” along with the full citation of the paper. We assert the authors’ moral right to post their papers on their personal or home institution’s Web pages and to make and distribute unlimited photocopies of their papers. In all of the above cases, HimAAS expects to be informed of such use, in advance or as soon as possible. Using an article or part of it for commercial purposes and republication in print on the Internet is not permited without prior permission. HimAAS does not grant permission to copy articles (or parts of articles) that are owned by others. Acknowledgments We would like to acknowledge the logistic support (office space, computers, furniture) of International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD). To all our reviewers and authors, for your patience and persistence: Thank you! Special Acknowledgments In the business of dissemination