Understanding climate change vulnerability of Indian forests has received wider attention in recent years and a number of assessments with different approaches have emerged over time. These assessments have mostly used climate-sensitive vegetation models to explain the climate change impacts.  In these studies, trees constituting a particular forest are often clubbed together into small number of groups having similar functional traits referred as Plant Functional Types (PFTs).  Most of the Forest Vegetation Models (FVMs) are still in their developmental stage and there have been attempts at various levels to develop more versatile and precise models. Several developing countries, including India, still lag behind in developing dynamic vegetation models (DVMs), which could be appropriate for the local applications to predict the impact on forests at regional level. This is restrained mainly because of the lack of long-term observations with respect to various interacting biotic, abiotic and climatic (or environmental) variables  in a forest ecosystem, like water and nitrogen use efficiency, response to elevated concentration of CO₂, nutrient cycling, net primary productivity, etc. The observations on influence of the environmental variables on forest ecosystems are available in discrete form. Existing FVMs integrate observations more appropriately for their place of origin for which they have been developed. Different types of forests in different climatic zones are supposed to respond differently to climatic changes. Hence, it is imperative that models are developed for the specific biogeographic regions in order to predict the influences more accurately. It may not be wise to use existing FVMs in their pristine form for all of the region without considering the regional influences. Various challenges associated with the usage of the generic models of external origin with special reference to Integrated Biosphere Simulator (IBIS) model - being widely used  and accepted in Indian policy documents- is presented in this paper. We also discuss on the need for developing a regional FVM for climate change impact studies, so that the impact prediction is more precise and reliable.

Portulaca tuberosa Roxb., Solanum diphyllum L. and Lippia alba (Mill.) N.E. Br. are reported from the state of Madhya Pradesh. Detailed description, ecological observations and photographs are provided.

Provisioning services from forests play a very significant role in sustaining livelihood of rural communities in the Himalayan region. Continuous flow of these services depends on the health of forest ecosystem. The present study identifies basic provisioning services flowing from a community managed forest in the Dhauladhar mountain range (North-west Himalaya) and analyses socio-ecological threats on them. Participatory rural appraisal method and structured interviews were used to collect data. Energy (fuel wood), food (fodder and wild edible plants) and water have been identified as three major provisioning services for the upstream rural communities as well as downstream urban population. A total of 98 species are used from the forests for various purposes. Socio-ecological threats identified for the sustenance of services include spread of invasive species, lack of ecological monitoring and ignorance of stakeholders.

Bolboschoenus planiculmis (F.Schmidt) T.V. Egorova, a rare species in India has been recollected after a gap of 60 years from Gujarat, India. A detailed taxonomic description along with photographic illustration is provided to facilitate its easy and correct identification.

Mitracarpus hirtus (L.) DC., Spermacoce exilis (L.O.Williams) C.D.Adams ex W.C.Burger & C.M.Taylor and Spermacoce latifolia Aubl., are reported for the first time from Chhattisgarh. Taxonomic details, illustrations and photographs have been provided for all species.

The correct typification of RET species Ceropegia odorata Nimmo ex J. Graham is elucidated here. Detailed description, live plant images and neotype are also provided.

Ten nematode species of order Dorylaimida were recorded for the first time from Uttarakhand during survey of terrestrial nematodes associated with forest trees and medicinal plants in Govind Wildlife Sanctuary, Uttarkashi, Uttarakhand, India.

Studies were carried out to evaluate of different herbicides on germination, seedling vigour of teak seedlings and weed control efficiency in teak nursery. Three days after sowing, pre emergence herbicides viz. atrazine (50% WP) fluchloralin (45% EC) and Pendimethalin (30% EC) were applied in the teak nursery bed (10m² ) as liquid spray at different concentrations. Thirty days after application of herbicides, observations were made on weed density and sixty days after application of herbicides, weed dry weight and number of teak seedlings produced in each treatment were reported. Five months after application of herbicides, the observations were made on root length (cm) ,shoot length (cm), number of leaves and number of secondary roots per seedling and dry matter production (g seedling^-5) of teak seedlings. The results revealed that application of pre-emergence herbicides effectively controlled broad leaved weeds than grasses and sedges, and enhanced the germination and seedling growth of teak seedlings.  Among the herbicides tried, the compatibility of atrazine was found to be better followed by fluchoralin. It is recommended that application of atrazine at 0.20% - 0.25% or fluchloralin at 0.15% could be adopted to enhance the germination and  seedling vigour of teak seedlings and to control broad leaved weeds, in teak nursery.

The endemic taxon, Cyathocline purpurea (Buch.–Ham. ex D. Don) Kuntze var. alba Santapau (Asteraceae) is reported as a new addition to the Flora of South India collected from Kawal Tiger Reserve of Telangana State, India. A detailed description, distributional map and photographs are provided for easy identification.

The paper confirms presence of Acronychia pedunculata in Golatappar swamp. The species was earlier reported to be absent during studies conducted in 1992 and 2002.

Ledebouria hyderabadensis M. V. Ramana, Prasanna & Venu is reported here as a new distributional record for Tamil Nadu. Detailed description and photographs are provided to facilitate easy identification.

Forest is a complex system, consisting of distinct forest communities, and status of any forest can be recognized by analysing its vegetation. For vegetation analysis phytosociological analysis is the best approach. The present study was carried out at 8 different sites of Ramgarh region using different phytosociological parameters. The results of this study revealed, on the basis of IVI, that five major vegetation types viz. Pinus roxburghii, Quercus leucotrichophora, mixed broad leaved, Quercus floribunda and Rhododendron arboreum were dominating this region.  The distribution of most of the tree species was random and there was no species having good regeneration status at any site of the region. It was also observed that the anthropogenic disturbance is changing the species richness and diversity of the region. Thus, the conservation and management of these sites are important for the sustainability of forests in the region.

Leptocybe invasa Fisher & LaSalle (Hymenoptera : Eulophidae), commonly known as blue gum chalcid wasp, is a major gall making insect species of eucalyptus, causing serious damage to seedlings in nursery stage. An insectary/nursery of eucalyptus was developed at this Institute to study the stages of gall development, number of galls formed with the age of seedling and effects of galls on the growth of seedling. Results revealed that there are five distinct stages of gall development, first stage initiates by the insertion of eggs on the epidermis of soft young leaves, petioles and stems and final stage ends with the emergence of adult wasps from galls through exit holes. It was observed that the development of galls start after one month age of seedlings, and there was significant (P<0.05-P<0.01) variation in growth (height and collar diameter), number of galls in leaves, petioles and stems, and total number of galls/seedling in respect of age. The data clearly exhibited that one month old seedlings were free from the attack of L. invasa as because there was complete absence of galls. Further, it was recorded that seedlings growth (height and collar diameter) was affected by the development of galls, minimum growth was recorded in case of maximum galls developed whereas less galls were noticed for maximum growth of seedlings. There was an inverse relationship exists between seedling growth and development of galls. The practical application of findings was discussed in the light of the present observations.

Increasing anthropogenic pressure and dependence on plant products has led to widespread exploitation of natural forest in Uttarakhand Himalaya. The study area was selected on the Southern Boundry of Corbett National Park. The objective of the present study was to understand the regeneration status of important tree species in three different types of forests categorized as Highly Disturbed, Moderately disturbed and Least Disturbed sites. Total tree density was higher for least disturbed forest and lower for highly disturbed forest. The regeneration was poor in highly disturbed site compared to least disturbed site. Mallotus philippinensis was germinating and growing as a dominant under canopy tree species across all the sites except least disturbed sites. Sal (Shorea robusta) regeneration was found to be a serious problem. Mallotus philippinensis, Aegle marmelos and Lagerstroemia parviflora showed their dominance across all the sites proving broad ecological amplitude and high tolerance against grazing pressure. At highly disturbed site, species like Mallotus philippinensis, Diospyros tomentosa and Lagerstromeia parviflora were regenerating fairly well with seedlings and saplings but the number of saplings were either less than or equal to adults. Vegetational parameters showed that protected areas ( least disturbed areas ) are important for maintaining regeneration and ecosystem.

Habenaria plantaginea Lindl., a beautiful terrestrial orchid is reported here as an addition to the flora of Chandigarh (UT).

Tripogon uma-ganeshii, a new species of Poaceae from the Horsley hills of Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh, India, is described and illustrated. The new species is allied to Tripogon tirumalae Chorghe et al., and T. trifidus Munro ex Stapf, in having 2-lobed lemma and median awn longer than the lemma length; but differs from Tripogon tirumalae, in length of leaf blades and spikes, number of florets in spikelets, size of the glumes, lemmas and paleas. It  differs from Tripogon trifidus, in height of the culms, nature of leaf sheath, length of leaf blades, number of florets in spikelets and size of the glumes.