The review indicates the potential of Agroforestry Practices to meet out the requirements of food, fodder, fuelwood and other tree products as well as resource conservation in the arid and semi-arid regions of the country. However, it is recommended that there is an urgent need of integration of forestry with agriculture at the same place. Based upon various studies conducted on Agroforestry Practices such as planting methods, fertilization, spacing and pruning schedules for raising some of the promising forest and fruit trees in association with annual and perennial field crops have been developed and standardized for management of land degradation. Successful efforts have been made to stabilize the yields of selected crops under tree canopies through agronomic manipulations and by tree canopy management practices. Supplement income can be obtained without reducing productivity and quality of natural grasslands through the introduction of promising leguminous trees on dry degraded lands. These lands which were producing only 2-3 t/ ha/ year biomass earlier are now producing 8-10 t/ha/year high quality biomass. Soil-root interface studies in terms of sharing of space, water, nutrients and light has been workout. The lands which belong to Classes IV/V-VII can be brought under protective measures through plantation of forest trees are considered very important for Agroforestry System. Fodder trees leaves are valuable feed stuffs to animals during lean period. These can be obtained from the top feed species by lopping management. Besides, these are good source of protein and supply of high energy diet during dry season of the year. Moreover, pods and fruits from planted tree species in Agroforestry System are highly palatable and can substitute in the concentrate feed. Some trees pods can also be used as a human and cattle feed. In general, pods are more nutritious than leaf. Under Agroforestry Systems agricultural crops can be grown successfully when the tree are lopped. The negative effects of Agroforestry trees can be narrowed down by lopping management. The plantation of trees as field boundary serves as shelterbelts and windbreaks to protect the field crops from biotic and abiotic stresses. Short rotation tree species are planted in high density and managed by regular pruning, thinning, felling, copping farming to ensure high productivity and conservation on degraded lands. The degraded lands could be rehabilitated by the use of silvi-pastoral system for continuous supply of fodder, fuelwood and other associated products. The yield of cultivated crops had decreased under trees because of competitions for natural resources like soil, water, light and nutrients. But reduction of fuel, fodder and soil nutrients can compensate this loss. Under horti-pastoral system, fruit trees can be planted very well and seeds of perennial legumes and grasses can be grown in between the rows of fruit trees. Hedgerows intercropping between bushes/ trees and agricultural crops primarily as an alternate land use system for enhancing productivity of whole system. Besides, it also fulfills the demand of fodder, firewood, and control of soil erosion. Alternate strip cropping of grasses and perennial legumes on sloppy degraded lands yielded high dry matter production when vegetative barriers were also used. Thus, in nutshell holistic approaches of Agroforestry Systems in dry fringe in India can be served as a multi purposes. This paper focused especially on the Agroforestry Practices recently conducted in dry parts of the country.

From the academic point of view even today the forests of Central India possess highly valuable tree wealth in spite of the fact that a lot of Teak and Sal plantations have been cut down after Independence. The present studies on the forests were therefore under-taken for two more years in continuation of our early work**. The thick forests occupy even today the ground growth of fuelwood plants and young timber trees of different species constituting highly thick ground vegetation. Abundant amount of water sources are available through the hilly streams which are helpful in the growth of dense forests. Presently, the explored forests consists of Dry Deciduous and Moist Deciduous types categorized mainly under the tropical forests whereas mountain subtropical forests flourish at lower altitudes. Dry Teak (Tectona grandis) and Sal Forests (Shorea robusta) are of common occurrence. Timber trees of Central Indian mountains number more than several dozens and are of high value for future use. Detailed information is provided about the forest tree flora as well as about the ferns, the liverworts and shrubby flowering plants.

Grewia optiva J.R. Drumm. ex Burrett (Bhimal), a medium sized tree has been an integral part of the Agroforestry Systems of North Western and Central Himalayas. It is primarily grown for its nutritious fodder especially at a time when no other fodder is available during the lean winter season (November to February). High yielding provenances of bhimal (I.C.Bhaintan, I.C. Chamba and I.C. Malas) were characterised in respect of various  root growth characteristics viz., soil binding, specific root length, horizontal and vertical root spread at quarterly intervals. The entire root system was excavated using skeleton method. Significant differences were recorded in root kinetic parameters for different provenances when studied over two years. Fine roots (<0.5 mm diameter) produced more total root length than coarser roots while the root biomass was the highest for coarse root category in all the provenances. Horizontal root spread was 251.3, 242.3, and 232.6 cm for  I.C. Bhaintan, I.C. Chamba and I.C. Malas, repectively after two years and eight months of planting. One of these provenances  I.C. Chamba  had established itself 1.5 m deep after 23 months of planting while the final vertical spread of roots after the end of study  ranged from 230 (I.C. Chamba) to 235 cm (I.C Bhaintan, and I.C. Malas). Soil binding factor was the highest in I.C. Malas (1975.8) followed by I.C. Chamba (1772.8) and I.C. Bhaintan (1674.7) and similar trend was recorded in respect of total root length. Soil binding factor of different provenances of bhimal was substantially higher than recorded for other multi purpose trees (MPTs) in other studies.

Climate change in the form of increased climatic variability at intra- and inter-annual and decadal time scales is the most talked problem that we are hearing today particularly in agricultural production. This study examines how farmers in the Bundelkhand of India perceive climatic change and an attempt has been made to analyze the temporal changes in agro ecology in terms of crops, cropping pattern, their productivity, animal population, irrigation systems, available water resources, vegetation cover, etc. over last 5-6 decades with reference to prevailing climate. This research used a “bottom-up” approach, which seeks to gain insights from the farmers themselves through household surveys, group interviews with key informants and following an open-ended approach when asking questions. The accuracy of the perceptions in deviations observed in the idealized local weather cycle was measured by analyzing the climatic data from 1975–2007 obtained from the nearest observatory. The communities at study area are highly aware of changes in climate and see a strong change in the ideal local weather calendar in terms of rainfall, rainy days, winter rains, droughts, temperature and wind. Further, they perceived a definite change in agro ecology of the region and see climate, though not sole, but an important cause of it.

Aim of the present study was to compare the floristic composition, phytosociological parameters such as frequency, density, basal area and importance value index (IVI) of hill top, foot hill and stream side region of a tropical dry deciduous forest range. The name of the forest range is Banspahari which is situated in the Paschim Medinipur district of West Bengal. The result indicated Shorea robusta Gaertn. as the most ecologically dominant species in these three study sites of the said forest range. Phytosociological analysis revealed that the forest types of hill top, foot hill and stream side forest is Shorea – Diospyros – Buchanania, Shorea – Terminalia – Buchanania  and  Shorea – Terminalia – Anogeissus respectively. Total tree basal area was estimated to be 55.16 m2/ha in the hill top site, 44.38 m2/ha in the foot hill site and 36.4 m2/ha in the stream side region. Total tree density, concentration of dominance value and the species diversity were calculated. Total density and concentration of dominance value is higher in the foot hill site but species diversity is higher in the stream side forest site.

Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) has became a major issue in international climate change negotiations. REDD was first introduced by United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) at its 11th session of Conference of Parties (COP) held in Montreal, Canada in December 2005. However, till date a consensus on making REDD practicable and marketable mechanism has not been reached. There are differences between developing countries having rich tropical forest cover. There are issues associated with methodologies, monitoring, internal forest policy, indigenous rights etc. In the present paper efforts were made to demonstrate the significance of natural and existing forests in sequestering and storing carbon. The carbon sequestration and storage potential is much higher in natural forests compared with two plantations viz of Dalbergia sissoo and Terminalia arjuna.  But enhancing land area under new forest cover can also be not refuted. Thus conserving natural forest coupled with adding new areas under forest through plantation should be the strategy for reversing and/or reducing global warming and climate change.

As many as 40 plant species belonging to 36 genera of 27 families were composing the study area - Gaddikhana Forest, Darjeeling. Among them 37 were dicotyledons and 3 monocotyledons. Its plant community was analyzed quantitatively and synthetically. The effective quadrate size was 90×90cm2. Diversity indices of 34 plant species and their evenness were determined. The proportional abundance of every species against its rank of abundance was also determined to deduce the allocation of individuals to species in communities. But for the population pressures the anthropogenic activities in forest regions are increased and in future it seems to be a major threat of biodiversity of Darjeeling.

The study examined the diversity, population structure and regeneration of trees species in the Malai Mahadeshwara Hills, Eastern Ghats of Karnataka. For purpose of the study, the hilly zone is stratified into 18 grids of 6.25×6.25km and tree enumeration was done in belt transects of 1000×5m, each laid in a grid. A total of 5, 919 trees individuals were recorded from the sampling sites with mean value 329 ± 73.79 and with a range of 182-471 individuals per grid. These individuals belong to 84 species, 67 genera and 35 families. The species richness was ranged from 8 to 42 species per sampling unit. Shannon index for trees ranged from 1.85-3.25 with mean value of 2.675 ± 0.409, for seedlings 0.93-2.22 and 0.74-2.07 for saplings. The mean basal area is 13.68 ± 7.95 m2ha-1 ranging from as low of 3.33 to maximum 34.11 m2ha-1. Level of disturbance in the sampling sites influenced the tree population structure and stand quality in the forest. The illicit cutting should be curtailed for protecting the seedlings as well as saplings.

The paper records 378 plant species collected from the Ramnagar Forest Division of Kumaon.

The present study was carried out in a clonal seed orchards of Teak located at Dandeli, Karnataka, South India, to assess the clonal variation for growth and levels resistance to trunk borer among Teak clones of Karnataka. There was significant among-clone variation for diameter at breast height (dbh) and volume. The variation within-clones was negligible, suggesting a strong genetic basis for these traits. Significant variation for borer infestation, as measured by the number of holes per tree, was recorded that ranged from 0.33 to 10.8 holes per tree with a mean 2.92. Based on the relative grading of the clones it was identified that two clones viz., MyHuN1 and MyHuT1 were ‘tolerant’, 7 clones were ‘highly susceptible’ and rest of the clones were ‘susceptible’. A general trend of higher volume with higher level of tolerance to trunk borer was observed in the study although the strength of the association was not significant. The results are important in developing resistant Teak clones.

Phellinus is a genus of fungi belonging to the family Hymenochaetaceae from order Aphyllophorales. Many species of Phellinus cause white rot. Phellinus spp. causing white rot of various kinds in live standing or dead gymnospermic and angiospermic wood occurs worldwide. A total number of 427 species of Phellinus are reported worldwide while only 96 species are reported from India. The current study was based on thorough Indian literature survey for the host range of Phellinus species. About 51 plant families shows infection of Phellinus spp. Amongst all the families, genera of Caesalpiniaceae are found to be most susceptible, followed by Euphorbiaceae, Fabaceae, Meliaceae, Pinaceae, Mimosaceae, Rubiaceae, Sapindaceae, Moraceae and Myrtaceae are also amongst the most frequently infected families. Mangifera is the most frequent host of Phellinus.

A study on invasive weeds in disturbed and undisturbed forest area was carried out to find out the effect of disturbance regimes on the intensity of invasion of forest weeds. The study revealed that two invasive species are found in the study area i.e. Chromolaena odorata and Achyranthes aspera. It was also observed that disturbance in the forest area created more favourable situation for invasion and adversely affected the regeneration of native species.

A study was conducted to analyze the exotic flora of the Chandauli district of Esastern Uttar Pradesh. A total of 152 plant species distributed among 117 genera and 50 families were collected. The flora of American and African origin dominates the exotic floristic composition of the district.

As part of ex-situ consevation of Garcinia wightii, softwood grafting by cleft method was carried out using root stocks Garcinia gummi-gutta and G. hombroniana.The intra specific grafting carried out is found very successful in G. hombroniana and resulted 93%  success, while  G. gummi-gutta showed complete failure. All the saplings raised survived well in the field of Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute (TBGRI), Trivandrum. So, in G. wightii grafting, this method using the root stock of G. hombroniana can be adopted as an easy technique for its multiplication.

Hedyotis trimenii Deb and Dutta is reported for first time to the flora of India. It deals with a short description, distribution, specimens examined and other relevant notes of this interesting taxon.

Ipomoea triloba L. and Merremia quinquefolia (L.) Hallier f. (Convolvulaceae) are recorded for West Bengal. A brief description and other relevant notes, illustrations and photographs are provided.

Ficus carica L. subsp. rupestris (Hausskn. ex Boiss.) Browicz (Moraceae), known to occur in Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, is now reported for the first time from Jammu & Kashmir in India as a new record. Detailed description, illustrations and uses along with specimens examined have been provided.

The paper deals with taxonomy of Hemiorchis pantlingii King (Zingiberaceae) collected from Nokrek Biosphere Reserve (NBR), Meghalaya. The species is a new record for Garo Hills District and is rediscovered after a gap of about 123 years from Meghalaya. The photographs of H. pantlingii King provided for easy identification.

The species Macroptilium atropurpureum (DC.) Urb. is reported for the first time from Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which forms a new generic addition to the legumes of these Islands.

Hyptis brevipes Poit. (Lamiaceae), an exotic species had been reported earlier from Andaman Islands but so far not yet been reported from mainland of India. Now this species has been collected from Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary, Darjeeling District, West Bengal and reported here as new distributional record from mainland of India.

The present paper deals with the new distributional record of Habenaria pantlingiana Kraenzl. (Orchidaceae) from Parasnath Wildlife Sanctuary, Jharkhand. Detailed taxonomic description along with illustration is provided.

Lippia alba (Mill.) N.E.Br. is reported new to Kerala from Kumaramkari of Alappuzha district, Kerala State, a place having altitude below sea level.

Six taxa, viz., Anemone obtusiloba D. Don var. potentilloides Lauener, Eriocapitella rupicola (Cambess.) Pusalkar, D.K. Singh & S.K. Srivast. var. glabriuscula (Hook.f.) Pusalkar, D.K. Singh & S.K. Srivast. (Ranunculaceae), Ilex excelsa (Wall.) Hook.f. var hypotricha (Loesener) S.Y. Hu (Aquifoliaceae), Paeonia emodi Wall. ex Royle var. glabrata Hook.f. & Thomson (Ranunculaceae), Parrya nudicaulis (L.) Regael (Brassicaceae) and Ranunculus hirtellus Royle var. orientalis W.T. Wang (Ranunculaceae) are reported as new records for Uttarakhand flora. Of these, Ranunculus hirtellus var. orientalis W.T. Wang is a new record for Indian flora and Ilex excelsa var hypotricha (Loesener) S.Y. Hu is a new record for the western Himalayan flora as well. A new combination is proposed under the genus Eriocapitella Nakai (Ranunculaceae) and a note is appended on status, morpho-taxonomy and distribution of widely mis-understood species Arenaria kumaonensis Maxim. (Caryophyllaceae).

The present paper deals with the study of wood-rotting fungi which usually grow parasitically on some tree species and cause them serious damage from Rajaji National Park, Uttarakhand. The data is based on collections made from August 2009 to July 2011.The paper includes 25 species of wood-rotting fungi under 12 genera.

Three taxa (Blumea milnei Seem-Asteraceae and Strobilanthes viscosa var. viscosa; S. viscosa var. digitalis-Acanthaceae) are distributional records for India from the Southern Western Ghats, India. A short description with illustrations and relevant notes is provided here for further collection and identification in field.

Occurrence of albino seedlings as natural mutant in Olea dioica is reported for the first time. The observations also revealed that existence of location effect on the frequency and duration of expression of albinism in the population.

All forest land area in Jammu and Kashmir is State owned and are under the technical and administrative control of the State Forest Department. The department is, therefore, managing these forests in the interest of the State. The State interest has too often been expressed as an extension of the policies of the State and Central Govt. which usually focus on exploitation of these forests for the overall development of the State, as a result of which the local communities which inhabit the forest under exploitation are marginalized. Participatory Forest Management got its formal shape in the year 1990. A need has arise to evaluate the impact of this management tool. 58 VFCs are functioning both with the Social Forestry projects and the territorial wings of the forest departments for the rehabilitation of the forest land of Kupwara District. A study was taken up in Shumeriyal and Doban Village committees to assess the impact of Joint Forest Management on the socio-economic development of rural people and to identify the prime ingredients of this programme responsible for bringing about the desired change. It was observed that the household income has considerable increased due to alternative job opportunities, agriculture production has increased, reduction in distance travelled and time spent for fuelwood and fodder collection and institution building and other constructions (Entry point activities) has paved the way for sustainability of the whole process. For the present study, the two VFCs selected, one VFC (Shumeriyal) which is only 6 kms from the district headquarter Kupwara having the population of 5800 souls and the another VFC (Doban) which is near about 60 kms away from the district headquarter having population of 2740 souls. During the present study it was observed that the Shumeriyal village is more developed than that of Doban village due to proper transport facilities, communication facilities, land productivity, drainage system, education and employment, During the present study it was observed that the forest villages which are near to the District headquarter are well developed than those areas which are far beyond the District headquarter.

The paper records the occurrence of Coccotrema cucurbitula (Mont.) Müll. Arg., an interesting species of lichen in the family Coccotremataceae as new generic and specific record for India.

Graphis pseudoaquilonia Lücking has been found as new record for Indian lichen flora from Assam. It is characterized by striate labia, clear hymenium, terminally muriform ascospores and the presence of norstictic acid.