Tree Planting Zones in Nepal

Phyto-geographical significance of Nepal Nepal lies in the crossroads of various floristic regions of Asia. It is here that the drier Western and Central Asiatic floral provinces meet with the more humid Sino-Japanese province. The southern part of Nepal with its flat plains is typical of the Indian province. The division between the boreal forest region (Paleartic realm) and the paleotropical floral region (Oriental realm) runs along the Himalayan region from east to west. The differing flora of the east Himalaya and the West Himalaya merge in Central Nepal. This has prompted further division of Nepal into 3 subsectors: Western, Central, and Eastern Nepal. Nepal lies on the subtropical zone of the globe, but because most of its terrain is mountainous, there is a range of bioclimatic variation from tropical to alpine zones. This has resulted into a great variety of habitats, which is reflected in the richness of flora and vegetation. Stainton (1972) identified 35 different forest ty...

Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment, 2017

The climate of Nepal has changed rapidly over the recent decades, but most instrumental records of weather and hydrology only extend back to the 1980s. Tree rings can provide a longer perspective on recent environmental changes, and since the early 2000s, a new round of field initiatives by international researchers and Nepali scientists have more than doubled the size of the country’s tree-ring network. In this paper, we present a comprehensive analysis of the current tree-ring width network for Nepal, and use this network to estimate changes in forest growth nation-wide during the last four centuries. Ring-width chronologies in Nepal have been developed from 11 tree species, and half of the records span at least 290 years. The Nepal tree-ring width network provides a robust estimate of annual forest growth over roughly the last four centuries, but prior to this point, our mean ring-width composite fluctuates wildly due to low sample replication. Over the last four centuries, two m...

Himalayan Journal of Sciences, 2006

Two community forests, Amaldapani and Juphal from Dolpa district, were selected for a study of quantitative analysis of tree flora. A total of 419 individual trees representing 16 species, 16 genera and 11 families were recorded. Total stand density and basal area were, respectively, 2100 trees ha -1 and 90 m 2 ⋅ha -1 in Amaldapani and 2090 tree ha -1 and 152 m 2 ⋅ha -1 in Juphal. Of the families, the Pinaceae was the most diverse, with 28 individuals representing five species and five genera, followed by the Rosaceae with three individuals representing two species and two genera. Pinus wallichiana, Abies spectabilis, Quercus semecarpifolia and Cedrus deodara had the highest importance value index and could therefore be considered the dominant species. Since the study area was diverse in tree population of conifers and deciduous forest tree species, it is essential to carry out further studies in order to establish conservation measures that will enhance local biodiversity.

2020

Repeated forest-resource inventories provide indispensable information to evaluate, for example, the mean growth rate of stands and changes in tree-species composition in an area. This paper presents a summary of such longitudinal forest inventory data in the Middle Hills of Nepal, where deforestation has been an issue. Our first inventory was implemented between 1997 and 1999 and measured 3839 plots of 100 square meters (m2). Our second inventory was conducted between 2014 and 2016 and measured 3765 plots of 100 m2. We found that over these two decades, the number of trees per hectare (ha-1) significantly improved. The number of stands ha-1 with diameter at breast height (DBH) of 10 centimeters (cm) and above went from 361.2 in the first inventory to 466.2 in the second inventory. We also found that not only the number of stands but also the quality of stands significantly improved. The number of stands with DBH of 30 cm and above ha-1 increased from 72.9 to 99.6. The mean alpha di...

Forests provide numerous ecosystem goods and services. eir roles are considered as important for both climate mitigation and adaptation program. In Nepal, there are significant forest resources which are distributed in different regions; however, the studies on the spatial tree species distribution and the above-ground biomass and their relationship at the landscape level have not been well studied. is study aims to analyze the relationship, distribution of tree species diversity, and above-ground biomass at a landscape level. e data used for this study were obtained from the Forest Research and Training Center of Nepal, International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), and Worldwide Wildlife Fund (WWF-Nepal). e landscape has a mean of 191.89 tons ha −1 of the above-ground biomass. e highest amount of the above-ground biomass measured was 650 tons ha −1 with 96 individual trees, and the least was 3.428 tons ha −1. e measured mean height of the tree was 11.77 m, and diameter at breast height (DBH) was 18.59 cm. In the case of the spatial distribution of the above-ground biomass, plots distributed at the middle altitude range greater than 900 meters above sea level (m. a. s. l) to 3000 meters above sea level taking more amount of the above-ground biomass (AGB). Similarly, the highest plot-level Shannon diversity index (H') was 2.75 with an average of 0.96 at the middle altitude region followed by the lower region with an average of 0.89 and least 0.87 at a higher elevation. Above-ground biomass (R 2 � 0.48) and tree height (R 2 � 0.506) significantly increased with increasing elevation up to a certain level increased of elevation. Diameter at breast height (DBH) showed significance (R 2 � 0.364) but small increase with increasing elevation, while the relationship among tree species diversity index, above-ground biomass, and elevation showed a weak and very weak positive relationship with R 2 � 0.018 and R 2 � 0.002, respectively. Based on the overall results, it is concluded that elevation has some level of influence on the forest tree diversity and above-ground biomass. e finding of this study could be useful for landscape-level resource management and planning under various changes.

Forestry is an extensive land use system in Nepal. Forest management has historically dealt primarily with the silviculture and biological management of forest. Forest is a renewable natural resource, which provides a wide range of environmental, socio-economic and cultural benefits and services. To obtain these benefits and services in perpetuity, an effective management strategy integrating both natural and social part of the forest dependent communities is one of the crucial prerequisites. The major issues lie on interaction between social and natural components and their adaptive mechanism. Management of forestland on a commercial scale has never been a successful story although it was started more than 40 years in Nepal. The first National Forest Inventory (NFI) was carried out with the sole intention of commercial harvesting of the forests so that financial returns could be made possible. Realizing that no significant efforts were made towards the introduction of silvicultural practices to improve the status and condition of forests, the Master Plan for the Forestry Sector, 1989 felt the need for scientific forest management in the Terai. On this basis, the new Forest Act 1993 and Forest Regulations 1995 were introduced and emphasized scientific forest management for government.

Scientific World, 2023

This study aimed to assess the forest structure, composition, and diversity pattern at different elevations in Morang District, eastern Nepal, using stratified random vegetation sampling technique in five forests: Bhaunne, Raja-Rani, Murchungi, Adheri, and Sagma. Trees, shrubs and herbs of each forest was sampled through quadrat of 20 × 20 m 2 , 5 × 5 m 2 , and 1 × 1 m 2 each respectively. A total of 315 plant species belonging to 82 families and 255 genera found by this study. A total of 50 quadrats each for trees, shrubs and herbs sampled during this study. A total 10 quadrats studied for each life form from each forest. This study obtained 5,037 individuals across all forests. The highest number of species (55) was recorded from Raja Rani forest, and the highest tree density (985 ind ha-1) was observed in Adheri forest. The highest density of shrub (24400 ind. ha-1) and herbs (44.1 ind.m-2) were recorded in Sagma forest. The Shannon Wiener index value of herb layer was found to be the highest (3.79) at Bhaunne forest. This value for shrub layer was 2.98 and tree layer was 3.12 at Sagma which was the maximum among forests. The concentrations of dominance value were high for herb and shrub layer in Bhaunne forest, and it was maximum for the tree layer in Adheri forest. The forest species composition were significantly different (p ≤ 0.001) among each other. Total basal area of shrub layer and tree layer recorded were maximum (111.52 m 2 ha-1 and 612.08 m 2 ha-1) in Sagma and Adheri forest, respectively. The number of trees decreased with increasing elevation, while shrubs increased, and herbs showed a Ushaped trend. The dominant tree species were Senegalia catechu, Shorea robusta, Terminalia alata, and Schima wallichii in Bhaunne, Raja-Rani, Murchungi, and Sagma forest, respectively, with Shorea robusta being dominant in Adheri forest. These findings have important implications for forest management and conservation efforts in the region.

Journal of Natural History Museum

A year round phytosociological study was carried out in 2012 to study different forest types in Pashupati Sacred Grove in Kathmandu Valley. Concentric circular plots (n-19) were laid down along eight parallel transects, 100 m apart from each other, traversing north and south passing through various vegetations. Our results showed that the grove had experienced change in forest types over the time period. Three forest types namely Schima-Pyrus, Moist (Myrsine- Persea) and Mixed (Quercus-Myrsine) were identified based on the importance value Index (IVI) of tree species instead of Myrsine-Schima forest which had once dominated the grove. Tree density greatly changed in different forest types and showed strong correlation between canopy cover and tree density, supporting the results of previous studies. J. Nat. Hist. Mus. Vol. 27, 2013: 72-77

Applied Ecology and Environmental Research, 2016

The aim of this study was to assess the structure (stem density, height, and basal area), composition and diversity in relatively undisturbed forests along an altitudinal gradient from 2000 m asl to 3900 m asl of Langtang National Park in Central Himalaya. The forest stands along the altitudinal gradient were studied on 20 sampling plots of two sub zones of the Temperate and Subalpine zone. Tsuga dumosa was the ecologically most important species in the Upper and the Lower Subalpine zone with high important value index (IVI = 124.31). Quercus semecarpifolia and Lithocarpus elegans were the ecologically most important species in the Upper and the Lower Temperate zone with IVI of 66.64 and 46.39 respectively. Similarly, indicator species' analysis was performed to know the preferences of tree species within the vegetation zones. Rhododendron campanulatum is highly significant (p < 0.001) and Tsuga dumosa significant (0.05 < p < 0.01) in the Upper Subalpine zone, whereas Rhododendron anthopogon prefers the Lower Subalpine zone with significant value (0.01 < p < 0.001). Only the Quercus semecarpifolia prefers the Upper Temperate zone. There was no specific trend in the structure along the altitudinal gradient. The Shannon diversity index ranged from 1.10 to 2.34 with the highest value in the Lower Temperate zone. Both Simpson index (0.89) and Evenness (0.86) were high in the Lower Temperate zone. From this study it is concluded that the contribution of forest composition in terms of species richness and Shannon diversity is significant in Lower Temperate zone. The Upper Subalpine zone has less diversity and may also be less endangered by human impact but may profit from climate change in the future.

The Initiation, 2011

... Peter Bridgewater Chair, Joint Nature Conservation Committee Nepal. Suraj Upadhaya Student, Kathmandu Forestry College. ... Model Forest and its prospect in Nepal. Peter Bridgewater, SurajUpadhaya. Abstract. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/init.v4i0.5545. ...