ID: 55807
Title: Sustainable exploration of biomass and bioenergy potential of wetland flora of Assam: A conceptual exposition
Author: P Hazarika and Y C Tripathi
Editor: Dr V R R Singh
Year: 2010
Publisher: The Indian Forester, Vol 136, No 11, November 2010
Source: Centre for Ecological Sciences
Reference: None
Subject: The Indian Forester
Keywords: wetland flora, bio resource, sustainable use, conservation
Abstract: Wetland ecosystem, the storehouse of renewable bio resources and biodiversity provides habitat and shelter to several plant, animal and microorganisms contributing significantly to the human livelihood and economy. People of Assam state have traditionally been utilizing these resources to fulfill their needs. However, wetlands of the state are under severe anthropogenic stress resulting into shrinkage of area and consequent loss of valuable resources and ecosystem as a whole warranting immediate conservation actions. The paper attempts to underline the concept of linking traditional knowlege with modern science and technology for sustainable bio resources utilization and biodiversity conservation of wetlands of Assam. Status and potential of wetland bio resource of Assam State for bio fertilizer and bio fuel production are discussed and appropriate agroforestry models are suggested for their conservation, management and productivity enahancement.
Location: Kumta Field Station
Literature cited 1: None
Literature cited 2: None
ID: 55806
Title: Influence of cone collection date on seed and germination characteristics in blue pine, Pinus wallichiana Ab. Jacks
Author: S K Lavania, Virendra Singh and Birendra Prasad
Editor: Dr V R R Singh
Year: 2010
Publisher: The Indian Forester, Vol 136, No 11, November 2010
Source: Centre for Ecological Sciences
Reference: None
Subject: The Indian Forester
Keywords: Cone collection, blue pine, Pinus wallichiana, seed germination
Abstract: The present study deals with the effect of cone collection date on seed and germination characteristics in blue pien (Pinus wallichiana). The first cone collection was doen on 15th September, second on 30th September, third on 15th October and fourth on 30th October from Gangotri range of Uttarkashi Forest Division of Garhwal Himalaya. Percentage of viable seeds, per cone increased while percentage of non-viable seeds per cone decreased with the maturity of cone. Mean fresh weight of 100 seeds increased from first to fourth (last) cone collection date. The moisture content of seeds decreased while seed germination increased as cone collection dates progressed. Germination percent and germination value of seeds steadily increased from cone collection date of 15th September to 30th October. Therefore, the cones should be collected in the last week of October to obtain quality seeds.
Location: Kumta Field Station
Literature cited 1: None
Literature cited 2: None
ID: 55805
Title: Variation in seedling characteristics among five seed sources of teak (Tectona grandis L. F) in Kerala
Author: Rajesh P Gunaga, H Nagesh Prabhu and T Surendra
Editor: Dr V R R Singh
Year: 2010
Publisher: The Indian Forester, Vol 136, No 11, November 2010
Source: Centre for Ecological Sciences
Reference: None
Subject: The Indian Forester
Keywords: Tectona grandis, Seed sources, seedlings characteristics, shoot-root ratio
Abstract: Variation for seedling performance was investigated among five broad seed sources of teak (Tectona grandis Linn.f). Significant seed source variation was established for seedling characteristics of height (9.56-16.82 cm), basal diameter (2.68 - 4.40 cm), root biomass (0.51-2.33 g), leaf area (21.49 - 283.68 cm2), sturdiness quotient (0.28-4.37) and quality index (0.36-1.04). The present study indicated that seed sources such as Parambikulam, Nilambur and Konni performed better for seedling attributes. Correlation analysis indicated that seedling diameter was positively correlated with seedling height and total biomass of seedling, while shoot-root ratio was negatively correlated with total biomass of seedling and quality index, which indicates that an optimal S:R ratio would substantially increase seedling quality and vigour. Cluster analysis was doen to assess phenotypic relationships among the seed sources and the dendrogram revealed three major clusters grouped according to rainfall distribution and altitude.
Location: Kumta Field Station
Literature cited 1: None
Literature cited 2: None
ID: 55804
Title: Irrigation water availability for oil palm cultivation in areas affected by shifting cultivation in Arunachal Pradesh
Author: Pankaj Kumar Roy, Amlanjyoti Kar, Chandan Ray and Asis Mazumdar
Editor: Dr V R R Singh
Year: 2010
Publisher: The Indian Forester, Vol 136, No 11, November 2010
Source: Centre for Ecological Sciences
Reference: None
Subject: The Indian Forester
Keywords: Hydrological parameters, shifting cultivation, Jhum land, Oil palm
Abstract: Shifting cultivation provided a way of life for most of the ethnic groups of north eastern states. Policy approach to deal with shifting cultivation in Arunachal Pradesh aims to replacing it with permanent forms of land use by cultivation of oil palm as per availability and suitability of land.
In Jhum land area oil palm plantation may be promising in the state. However, as per the requirement of climate factors and availability of irrigation water, the oil palm cultivation could be practiced in aeras where a compact area between 450-500 hectares of land and sufficient rainfall and sunny days are available. Since, the minimum land requirement for oil palm plantation, advocated by NRCOP, is 500 ha, a total number of nearly 60,000 nos. Plant may be grown in such a composite oil palm garden. In view of non availability of a considerable land area of 500 hectares under single holding and cost involvement, community participation should be encouraged. Since irrigation water requirement of each plant is 200 litres per day, total quantity of 12 million litres or 0.012 MCM of water per day would be required for sustainable growth of such oil palm plantation.
Various practices of watershed development can also be applied in the sloping terrain. In the foothill areas of Arunachal Pradesh, with optimum minimum temperature of 6-100C, shallow aquifers may be tapped with shallow tube wells or dug wells/collector wells with infiltration galleries. Surface water/rain water resources could be developed in and around Jhum cultivation areas through construction of check dams in series with sub surface dams and through construction of ponds.
Location: Kumta Field Station
Literature cited 1: None
Literature cited 2: None
ID: 55803
Title: Seedling evaluation of Diploknema butyracea (Roxb.) H J Lam
Author: Nawa Bahar, V R R Singh and Preeti Sharma
Editor: Dr V R R Singh
Year: 2010
Publisher: The Indian Forester, Vol 136, No 11, November 2010
Source: Centre for Ecological Sciences
Reference: None
Subject: The Indian Forester
Keywords: Diploknema butyracea, Evaluation, seedlings, germination, investigation
Abstract: The present investigation was carried out on seedlings evaluation in Diploknema butyracea (Cheura) under laboratory condition. During the course of test, the nature of germination was epigeous and the normal and abnormal seedlings were observed 91 and 9 percent respectively. Ten categories of abnormalities were also found in this species.
Location: Kumta Field Station
Literature cited 1: None
Literature cited 2: None
ID: 55802
Title: Vegetation types and their influence on some secondary nutrients and micronutrients in soils of Meghalaya forests
Author: M Bala Krishna Reddy
Editor: Dr V R R Singh
Year: 2010
Publisher: The Indian Forester, Vol 136, No 11, November 2010
Source: Centre for Ecological Sciences
Reference: None
Subject: The Indian Forester
Keywords: Secondary nutrients, micronutrients, vegetation types, lime rich forest soils
Abstract: The relationship between soil and vegetation is both dynamic and temporal. The variation in soil properties across the forests in Meghalaya is a result of iterplay of several factors, chief among which are climate, topography, tree species composition and state of health of teh sylvan ecosystem. Soil pH had a direct bearing on micronutrient content of the soils of the forests. Apart from the observation that certain important soil characteristics are well correlated with the vegetation types in the virgin forest tracts of Meghalaya it was also found that some secondary nutrients and micronutrients serve as useful indicators of state of health of the forest ecosystems of the State.
Location: Kumta Field Station
Literature cited 1: None
Literature cited 2: None
ID: 55801
Title: Response of important tropical tree species to elevated CO2
Author: S Varadharajan, C Buvaneswaran, Rekha R Warrier and R S C Jayaraj
Editor: Dr V R R Singh
Year: 2010
Publisher: The Indian Forester, Vol 136, No 11, November 2010
Source: Centre for Ecological Sciences
Reference: None
Subject: The Indian Forester
Keywords: Teak, Ailanthus, Casuarina, elevated CO2
Abstract: Global warming plays a major role in climate change which is caused mainly due to increase in CO2 level in the atmosphere. Present study attempted to evaluate four important tropical tree species, Tectona grandis, Ailanthus excelsa, Casuarina equisetifolia and Casuarina junghuhniana for adaptation to elevated levels of CO2 at nursery stage. The study was conducted inside the poly tunnels and CO2 enrichment was done to double the concentration. Seedlings in poly tunnel without CO2 enrichment served as control. The short term experiments revealed that of the four species studied, casuarinas performed well under elevated CO2 conditions in terms of all growth parameters studied. The performance of teak alone was poor indicating adverse effect of CO2 enrichment on morphological traits of this species as seen by reduced leaf area, lesser dry matter accumulation both in shoot and root system and poor Seedling Quality Index at elevated CO2 levels. Thus, in the present study, all the species except teak showed a positive response to CO2 enrichment in terms of morphological traits while Casuarina equisetifolia and C. junghuhniana showed better growth and seedling quality indicating their better adaptability to elevated CO2 level.
Location: Kumta Field Station
Literature cited 1: None
Literature cited 2: None
ID: 55800
Title: Resin quality evaluation of Indian Chir pine obtained by bore hole and rill methods
Author: G S Rawat
Editor: Dr V R R Singh
Year: 2010
Publisher: The Indian Forester, Vol 136, No 11, November 2010
Source: Centre for Ecological Sciences
Reference: None
Subject: The Indian Forester
Keywords: Quality Evaluation, Oleoresin, Chir pine, Borehole method
Abstract: The quality and yield of oleogum resin obtained from chir pine, varies by edaphic, climatic and genetic factors besides the tapping methods. In this context, borehole method of tapping has been found to be more feasible and superior over conventional methods in terms of minimum damage to the tree, and other inputs like time, labour, etc. Physicochemical analysis, based on standard methods of rosin and turpentine separated from chirpine resin samples, was attempted for quality evaluation. The analysis of oleoresin, rosin and turpentine revealed that the borehole tapped oleoresin has less contaminants and better quality with hgih turpentine as compared to rill tapped oleoresin. THis information may be helpful for tapping of high quality resin to the forest managers.
Location: Kumta Field Station
Literature cited 1: None
Literature cited 2: None
ID: 55799
Title: Flood detection and mapping of the Thailand Central Plain using RADARSAT and MODIS under a sensor web environment
Author: Kridsakron Auynirundronkool, Nengcheng Chen, Caihua Peng, ChaoYang, Jianya Gong
Editor: Alfred Stein
Year: 2012
Publisher: Elsevier, Vol 14, Issue 1, February 2012
Source: Centre for Ecological Sciences
Reference: None
Subject: International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation
Keywords: Sensor web, flood detection, web processing service, Sensor Observation Service, RADARSAT, MODIS
Abstract: Flooding in general is insignificant event worldwide and also in Thailand. The Central plain, the Northern plain and the northeast of Thailand are frequently flooded areas, caused by yearly monsoons. The Thai government has extra expenditure to provide disaster relief and for the restoration of flood affected structures, persons, livestock, etc. Current flood detection in real time or near time has become a challenge in the flood emergency response. In this paper, an automatic instant time flood detection approach consisting of a data retrieval service, flood sensor observation service (SOS), flood detection web processing service (WPS) under a sensor web environment, is presented to generate dynamically real-time flood maps. A scenario of a RADARSAT and MODIS sensor web data service for flood detection cover of the Thailand Central plain is used to test the feasibility of the proposed framework. MODIS data are used to overview the wide area, while RADARSAT data are used to classify the flood area. The proposed framework using the transactional web coverage service (WCS-T) for instant flood detection processes dynamic real-time remote sensing observations and generates instant flood maps. The results show that the proposed approach is feasible for automatic instant flood detection.
Location: 241
Literature cited 1: None
Literature cited 2: None
ID: 55798
Title: Multi-scale remote sensing sagebrush characterization with regression trees over Wyoming, USA: Laying a foundation for monitoring
Author: Collin G Homer, Cameron L Aldridge, Debra K Meyer, Spencer J Schell
Editor: Alfred Stein
Year: 2012
Publisher: Elsevier, Vol 14, Issue 1, February 2012
Source: Centre for Ecological Sciences
Reference: None
Subject: International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation
Keywords: Sagebrush, Wyoming, Regression tree classification, Rangeland remote sensing, Monitoring
Abstract: Sagebrush ecosystems in North America have experienced extensive degradation since European settlement. Further degradation continues from exotic invasive plants, altered fire frequency, intensive grazing practices, oil and gas development, and climate change- adding urgency to the need for ecosystem - wide understanding. Remote sensing is often identified as a key information source to facilitate ecosystem-wide characterization, monitoring, and analysis; however, approaches, that characterize sagebrush with sufficient and accurate local datail across large enough areaas to support this paradigm are unavilable.We describe the development of a new remote sensing sagebrush characterization approach for the state of Wyoming, USA. This approach integrates 2.4 m QuickBird, 30 m Landsat TM, and 56 m AWiFS imagery into the characterization of four primary continuous field components including percent bare ground, percent herbaceous cover, percent litter, and percent shrub, and four secondary components including percent sagebrush (Artemisia spp) percent big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata), percent Wyoming sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata Wyomingensis), and shrub height using a regression tree. According to an independent accuracy assessment, primary component root mean square error (RMSE) values ranged from 4.90 to 10.16 for 2.4 m QuickBird, 6.01 to 15.54 for 30 m Landsate, and 6.97 to 16.14 for 56 m AWiFS. Shrub and herbaceous components outperformed the current data standard called LANDFIRE, with a shrub RMSE value of 6.04 versus 12.64 and a herbaceous component RMSE value of 12.89 versus 14.63. This approach offers new advancements in sagebrush characterization from remote sensing and provides a foundation to quantitatively monitor these components into the future.
Location: 241
Literature cited 1: None
Literature cited 2: None
ID: 55797
Title: Computation of physical characteristics of a lake system using IRS P6 (LISS - III) imagery
Author: A M Sheela J Letha, Sabu Joseph, K K Ramachandran, Manoj Chacko
Editor: Alfred Stein
Year: 2012
Publisher: Elsevier, Vol 14, Issue 1, February 2012
Source: Centre for Ecological Sciences
Reference: None
Subject: International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation
Keywords: IRS P6, LISS-III Imagery, Water temperature, Depth, Turbidity, Akkulam - Veli lake, Kerala
Abstract: Lakes are versatile ecosystems and they are under the threat of eutrophication and siltation. The physical characteristics of a lake provide some insight into the status of the lake. Satellite imagery analysis now plays a prominent role in the quick assessment of characteristics of a lake system in a vast area. This study is an attempt to assess the water temperature, depth, and turbidity level of a lake system (Akkulam-Veli lake, Kerala, India) using IRS P6 - LISS - III imagery. Field data were collected on the date of the overpass of the satellite. For the assessment of water temperature from satellite imagery, regression equation using spectral ratio (green/red bands) is found to yield superior results than the simple regression equation and multiple regression equation. For predicting the water depth, radiance in green and red bands can be used whereas that for turbidity, radiance in green and SWIR can be used, IRS P6-LISS-III imagery can be effectively used for the assessment of the physical characteristics of a lake system at a low cost.
Location: 241
Literature cited 1: None
Literature cited 2: None
ID: 55796
Title: Multinomial logistic regression-based feature selection for hyperspectral data
Author: Mahesh Pal
Editor: Alfred Stein
Year: 2012
Publisher: Elsevier, Vol 14, Issue 1, February 2012
Source: Centre for Ecological Sciences
Reference: None
Subject: International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation
Keywords: Feature selection, Multinomial logistic regression, support vector machines, classification accuracy
Abstract: This paper evaluates the performance of three feature selection methods based on multinomial logistic regression, and compares the performance of the best multinomial logistic regression-based feature selection approach with the support vector machine based recurring feature eliminatin approach. Two hyperspectral datasets, one consisting of 65 features (DAIS data) and other with 185 features (AVIRIS data) were used. Result suggests that a total of between 15 and 10 features selected by using the multinomial logistic regression-based feature selection approach as proposed by Cawley and Talbot achieve a significant improvement in classification accuracy in comparison to the use of all the features of the DAIS and AVIRIS datasets. In addition to the improved performance, the Cawley and Talbot approach does not require any user-defined parameter, thus avoding the requirement of a model selection stage. In comparison, the other two multinomial logistic regression-based feature selection approaches require one user-defined parameter and do not perform as well as the Cawley and Talbot approach in terms of (i)the number of features required to achieve classification accuracy comparable to that achieved using the full dataset, and (ii) the classification accuracy achieved by the selected features. The Cawley and Talbot approach was also found to be computationally more efficient than the SVM-RFE technique, though both use the same number of selected features to achieve an equal or even higher level of accuracy than that achieved with full hyperspectral datasets.
Location: 241
Literature cited 1: None
Literature cited 2: None
ID: 55795
Title: A synthesis of remote sensing and local knowledge approaches in land degradation assessment in the Bawku East District, Ghana
Author: G A B Yiran, J M Kusimi, S K Kufogbe
Editor: Alfred Stein
Year: 2012
Publisher: Elsevier, Vol 14, Issue 1, February 2012
Source: Centre for Ecological Sciences
Reference: None
Subject: International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation
Keywords: Bawku East District, Deforestation, Desertification, Image change detection, Land degradation, Remote sensing, Satellite image classification
Abstract: A greater percentage of Northern Ghana is under threate of land degradation and is negatively impacting on the well-being of the people owing to deforestation, increasing incidence of drought, indiscriminate bush burning and desertification. The problem is becoming severe with serious implications on the livelihoods of the people as the land is the major resource from which they eke their living. Reversing land degradation requires sustainable land use planning which should be based on detailed up-to-date information on landscape attributes. This information can be generated though remote sensing analytical studies. Therefore, an attempt has been made in this study to collect data for planning by employing remote sensing techniques and ground truthing.
The analysis included satellite image classification and change detection between Landsat images captured in 1989, 1999 and 2006. The images were classified into the following classes: water bodies, close savannah woodland, grassland/unharvested farmland, exposed soil, burst scars, and settlement. Change detection performed between the 1989 and 1999 and 1989 and 2006 showed that the environment is deteriorating. Land covers such as close savannah woodland, open savannah woodland and exposed soil diminished over the period whereas settlement and water bodies increased. The grassland/unharvested farmland showed high increases because the images were captured at the time that some farms were still crops or crop residue.
Urbanization, land clearing for farming, over grazing, firewood fetching and bush burning were identified as some of the underlying forces of vegetal cover degradation. The socio-cultural beliefs and practices of the people also influenced land cover change as sacred groves as well as medicinal plants are preserved. Local knowledge is recognized and used in the area but it is not porperly integrated with scientific knowledge for effective planning for sustainable land management. This is due to lack of expertise in remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS) in the area.
Location: 241
Literature cited 1: None
Literature cited 2: None
ID: 55794
Title: Surface roughness analysis of a conifer forest canopy with airborne and terrestrial laser scanning techniques
Author: K Weligepolage, A S M Gieske, Z Su
Editor: Alfred Stein
Year: 2012
Publisher: Elsevier, Vol 14, Issue 1, February 2012
Source: Centre for Ecological Sciences
Reference: None
Subject: International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation
Keywords: Momentum roughness, Airborne laser scanning, Terrestrial laser scanning, conifer forest
Abstract: Two digital Canopy Height Models (CHMs) were generated using the novel Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) technique combined with Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) data, acquired over a conifer forest. The CHMs were used to extract cross-sections in order to derive surface geometric parameters. Different morphometric models were applied to estimate aerodynamic roughness parameters: the roughness length (Z0) and the displacement height (d0). The CHMs were also used to derive the area-height relationship of the canopy surface. In order to estimate roughness parameters the observed canopy area-height relationship was modelled by uniform roughness elements of paraboloid or conical shape. The estimated average obstacle density varies between 0.14 and 0.24 for both CHMs. The canopy height distribution is approximately Gaussian, with average heights of about 26 m and 21 m for CHMs generated with data from TLS and ALS respectively. The estimated values of Z0 and d0 depend very much on the selected model. It was observed that the Raupach models with parameters tuned to resemble the forest structure of the study area can be applied to a wide range of roughness densities. The cumulative area-height modelling approach also yielded results which are compatible with other models. The results confirm that, to model the upper canopy surface of the conifer forest, both the cone and the paraboloid shapes are fairly appropriate.
Location: 241
Literature cited 1: None
Literature cited 2: None
ID: 55793
Title: Potential reasons for ionospheric anomalies immediately prior to China ' s Wenchuan earthquake on 12 May 2008 detected by nonlinear principal component analysis
Author: Jyh-Woei Lin
Editor: Alfred Stein
Year: 2012
Publisher: Elsevier, Vol 14, Issue 1, February 2012
Source: Centre for Ecological Sciences
Reference: None
Subject: International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation
Keywords: Nonlinear principal component analysis (NLPCA), Principal component analysis (PCA), Total electron content (TEC), Wenchuan earthquake, P-type semiconductor effect
Abstract: Nonlinear principal component anaysis (NLPCA0 is used to detect total electron content (TEC) anomalies for China ' s Wenchuan earthquake on 12 May 2008 (UT) (Mw = 7.9). NLPCA is applied to global ionospheric maps (GIMs) at height ranging from 150 to 200 km with transforms conducted for the time period 00:00-06:00 UT on 12 May 2008. The GIMs are analyzed using NLPCA whereby the GIMs are seperated into 100 smaller maps of 360 in longitude and 180in latitude. These smaller maps are constructed at 71 x 71 pixels forming the transform matrix of the NLPCA. The transform allows for a principal eigenvalue to be assigned for each of the smaller maps. The results of the transforms provide 100 principal eigenvalues covering the region and the epicenter of the Wenchuan earthquake. The possibility of TEC anomalies being caused by X-ray flux and geomagnetic activity is eliminated by reviewing X-ray flux data and the Kp index. The eigenvalues of NLPCA are compared with the eigenvalues of principal component analysis (PCA), and TEC anomalies are clearly detected using NLPCA. Large principal eigenvalues representative of earthquake-related TEC anomalies were found nearby the epicenter for the time period 00:00-0600 UT using NLPCA. The earthquake occurred at 06:28 UT. A potential cause of the clear TEC anomaly almost directly over the epicenter in the time period 0200-0400 would be very stark p-type semiconductor effect caused by rocks under extreme stress. The stress may have abated during other time periods reducing p-type semiconductor effects and associated TEC anomalies.
Location: 241
Literature cited 1: None
Literature cited 2: None