There has been a rising global awareness about the importance of world’s mountain areas as mountains offer diverse goods and services to well over half of the earth’s 7 billion people. Mountains and mountain areas are susceptible in nature as some of the most visible indicators of climate change come from mountain areas e.g. widespread retread of glaciers have been observed from the mountain areas across the globe. The Indian Himalayan Region (IHR), a mountain chain along the northern border of India with its diversity of ecosystems has unique and special significance for India. During the last decades, globalization, climate change, and population growth have impacted the forest ecosystems of IHR. Although, there is a net gain (2.10%) of forest cover in IHR during the decade (2001 - 2011), but all the states of IHR did not gain in forest cover during the period. Moreover, changes within the forests, such as changes of undisturbed primary forests into secondary forests are difficult to assess. The overall forest cover of 41.55% of the total geographical area of IHR is way behind the target set by the National Forest Policy of 1988 (Anon; 1988). Protection of Himalayan forests is possible only if the ever growing inhabitants of the IHR are properly compensated for protection of these valuable national resources. Successful implementation of Sustainable Forest Management through the global initiatives like ‘reducing emission from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries; and the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries’ (REDD+) at sub-national level is an opportunity to protect the IHR for the national interest.

The present study aimed to estimate above-ground biomass and carbon stocks of different life forms in tropical dry and moist deciduous forests of Nallamalais, one of the centers of plant diversity of India, located in central part of the Eastern Ghats. The present study used a non-destructive method of biomass estimation. From the sampled inventory it is found that the dry deciduous vegetation with 114 species comprising a total of 1737 tree individuals with a mean basal area of 16.37±9.12 m2 ha-1, 61.52±41.66 Mg ha-1 (Mega gram=106 g) above-ground biomass and 26.83±15.69 Mg ha-1 carbon, the moist deciduous vegetation with 115 species, comprising 1431 tree individuals with a mean basal area of 29.78±4.83 m2 ha-1, contributing 110.37±26.12 Mg ha-1 above-ground biomass and 52.24±12.48 Mg ha-1 carbon. It is revealed that the moist deciduous forests are more efficient in terms of sequestering atmospheric carbon.

Soil Organic Carbon has been ignored since long because it was treated as a dead biomass. After the awareness of climate change, its importance has been recognized worldwide. Therefore, this study was conducted in four land uses viz. Forests, Plantations, Horticulture and Agroforestry in Yamunanagar district of Haryana. Over all, fifty nine numbers of sampling sites (Four hundred and fourteen soil samples) were selected in all land uses from the district. Variation in the number of samples was due to difference in area available under particular land uses.  In Yamunanagar district, maximum SOC pool was under Forests (51.05 t ha^-1) followed by Plantations (35.32 t ha^-1), Horticulture (33.58 t ha^-1) and the least was under Agroforestry (29.22 t ha^-1). SOC pool under Forests was 44.54 %, 52.03% and 74.71% higher as compared to Plantations, Horticulture and Agroforestry land uses respectively. SOC pool under Plantations was marginally higher as compared to Horticulture (5.18 %) while it was 20.88 % higher in comparison to Agroforestry. Organic carbon pool in the soils under Horticulture land use was 14.92 % higher as compared to soils under Agroforestry land use. When SOC pool under different land uses were tested by one - way ANOVA, it was found that SOC pool under all land uses were significantly different. SOC pool under Forests was statistically significantly different with the SOC pool under Plantation, Agroforestry and Horticulture. Results of one - way ANOVA indicates that SOC pool between the different plantations was significantly different at 0.05 level.

This study conducted at State Forest Academy and three forest circles of Andhra Pradesh through active participation of Forest Beat Officers (FBOs) examines the effect of age, educational qualification, length of service, physical fitness, job motivation, job satisfaction and job stress on their job performance. The preferences of FBOs for different types of works within the forest department are assessed. The study reveals that only about a quarter of them have normal body-mass index. Their housing facilities need improvement as about three-fourth of them stay in rented accommodations. There is overwhelming preference for territorial responsibilities, followed by wildlife. The study indicates that task orientation, success orientation, motivators, job motivation and job satisfaction have positive influence on job performance. Hygiene, job satisfaction, age, length of service, educational qualification and body-mass index has no relationship with job performance. Job stress has negative relationship. The impact of various attributes of independent variables on job performance is also discussed. The findings may be useful for more effective human resource management of FBOs in Andhra Pradesh to improve their job performance.

Bioresources particularly the dendro energy resources play significant role in meeting the energy requirement of both domestic and industrial requirements. With the improvement in the technology of conversion and utilization over the last three decades dendro energy resources have reached a status of being considered as commercial energy resources and are prioritized for use in decentralized biomass based power generation projects. However, many biomass based power plants started in the country in general and the state of Tamil Nadu in particular have exhibited various constraints which resulted in uncertained power generation. The reasons are numerous but the key factors are non-availability of quality (High Calorific Value) raw material, fragmented land use pattern, lack of site specific HDSR models, unorganized supply chain and lack of partnership among various stake holders. Against this back drop, the current project has conceived a concept of consortium mode dendro energy farming by comprehensively involving all levels of stake holders viz., research institutes for technology development for dendro energy resources, biomass power plant for assuring minimum support price and to facilitate contract farming, the farmers to grow energy trees identified by the research institutes and adopt precision silvicultural technology and lastly the financial institution to provide credit facilities to energy plantation growers. This consortium has been successfully introduced and implemented in Tamil Nadu in association with Auromira Energy Company Limited which have three Biomass Power Plants with an installed capacity of 35.5 MW. Through this consortium, the research institute has identified high yielding energy rich species and developed HDSR models suitable for varied agroclimatic zones. This consortium has introduced contract dendro energy farming in the state following farm forestry and captive model approaches. The various contract farming models land lease, tree share and income share models have been introduced through this consortium to benefit the growers and the biomass based power plants. In a holistic perspective the consortium has reduced the impact of multipartite supply chain in to a bi-partite, tri-partite and quad partite model supply chain thereby helped to augment the Production to Consumption System (PCS). This model can suitably be modified to meet the wood requirement of other wood based industries. This paper discusses the constraints and the interventions made to augment dendrobioresources to generate power which are from clean and green bioresources.

Maianthemum fusciduliflorum (Kawano) S. C. Chen & Kawano is recorded for the first time from India.

The performance of Tissue Culture and Stem Cutting plants planted during different planting seasons showed that the application of fertilizers contributed significantly to produce maximum growth for the traits studied (culm length, culm diameter, no.of nodes, intermodal length and number of culms/clump). Supplementation of FYM with NPK at Site 2 raised during July-August 2006 produced encouraging results and the growth of Stem Cutting plants especially the culm length showed two times increase over Tissue Culture plants. Statistical analysis showed non-significant differences amongst all the traits studied for the Stem Cutting and Tissue Culture plants after three years of planting. The variability estimates revealed that the culm length for SC plants varied from 137.00 to 587.00 cm with a mean value of 381.00 cm compared to 92.90 to 235.80 cm with a mean of 173.17 cm observed for TC plants. The girth of SC plants ranged from 5.0 to 20.25 cm with a mean of 13.52 cm whereas the girth of TC plants ranged from 6.4 to 10.38 cm with a mean of 7.96 cm. The No. of nodes for SC plants varied from 12.50 to 27.00 with a mean of 21.93 compared to a mean of 13.02 recorded for No. of nodes for TC plants. The No. of culms/clump varied from 2.00 to 4.50 for SC plants with a mean of 3.01 compared to a range of 2.30 to 7.87 and mean of 3.81 recorded for TC plants. The inter-nodal length for SC plants varied from 9.75 to 24.67 with a mean value of 17.80 whereas the inter-nodal length for TC plants ranged from 6.70 to 11.87 with a mean of 8.46. The comparative assessment of SC and TC plants in these experimental plots with fertilizer treatments though reveals better performance of SC plants, the TC plants are expected to produce better results at later stage.

A new species of Muhlenbergia, M. rakhchamensis (Poaceae) is described and illustrated from Himachal Pradesh, India.

Macrosolen andamanensis L.J.Singh is described and illustrated here as a new species of genus Macrosolen Blume (Loranthaceae) from Bay Island India.

A study was conducted to understand the plant diversity along an altitudinal gradient with elevations varying from 2750 to 5000m above msl in Lippa – Asrang valley falling in cold desert area of Pooh sub division of district Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh during 2007. The number of tree species at 2750-3200m and 3200-3650m elevations were 10 and 8 with the dominance of Cedrus deodara and Pinus wallichian respectively. The number of shrub species were 19, 17, 7 and 3 in the elevations of 2750-3200m, 3200-3650m, 3650-4100m and 4100-4550m respectively. Juniperus communis taking shape of the dominant shrub at 2750-3200 m, 3200-3650 m and 3650-4100m elevations. Rhododendron anthopogon was the dominant shrub at 4100-4550m elevation range. The number of herb species were 76, 73, 46, 39 and 33 at 2750-3200m, 3200-3650m, 3650-4100m, 4100-4550m and 4550-5000m elevational ranges respectively. On the basis of importance value index (IVI), Artemisia brevifolia, Heracleum candicans, Thymus linearis, Bergenia stracheyi and Bistorta affinis were the dominant herbs dotting different elevational ranges and distribution pattern of plant species was mostly contiguous in all the altitudes.  Index of diversity for herb species in different elevational ranges was 3.89, 3.82, 3.47, 3.21 and 2.95. Out of 78 medicinal plant species as recorded from the area, 20 species fall in the category of threatened plants. The better conservation of natural resources can be well achieved through promotion of community based conservation stressing in-situ conservation through the establishment of nature reserves and ex-situ conservation through tissue culture, developing cultivation technologies and nurseries of medicinal plants and conducting regular trainings on the procedure of medicinal plants collection, processing amongst the end users/ the local people, traders and real stake holders.

Two alien species, namely, Macroptilium atropurpureum (DC.) Urb. of Fabaceae, and Gloxinia perennis (L.) Fritsch of Gesneriaceae have been described and illustrated.

The present paper records Ichnanthus pallens (Swartz) Munro ex Benth. var. pallens (Poaceae), as new distributional record for India.

A number of fungus was isolated from the seeds of Oroxylum indicum (L.) Vent. The mycoflora associated with the seeds of this tree have not been previously reported from Kumaun region of Indian Central Himalaya. During the course of study mycoflora such as Fusarium solani, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus nidulens, Penicillium sp., Trichoderma harzianum, Alternaria solani, Alternaria alternata, Curvolaria lunata., Stachybotryis chartarum, Acremonium sp., Rhizoctonia solani, Chaetomium globosum, Cladosporium cladoporoides and Torula allii were isolated from the seeds.

Neuracanthus Nees (Acanthaceae), hitherto unrecorded is reported as a new generic record to the flora of Madhya Pradesh.

Botrychium multifidum (S. G. Gmel.) Rupr. a Critically Endangred fern of Western Himalaya was earlier reported from Shimla District of Himachal Pradesh. The Authors have collected this fern after a gap of 124 years from Solang Valley, Manali.

Delavayella serrata Steph., a poorly known Indian liverwort, is described and illustrated from Arunachal Pradesh, India.

Homalium jainii A. N. Henry & Swamin. (Flacourtiaceae) is a critically endangered species of Tirunelveli Hills, Tamil Nadu, India. It was relocated in other than type locality from Valaiyar hills.

To standardize maturity indices in Pinus gerardiana, the seeds were collected from three diameter classes at two week interval starting from 23^rd August to 18^th October (5 collection dates). Cones and seeds extracted during each collection were subjected to various physico-chemical and germination studies. For best maturity, the cones should be collected on 4^th October when these are greyed-orange in colour and cone and seed moisture contents are 43.09% and 27.90%, respectively. At this stage, the seeds exhibited maximum germination (73.23%), germination energy (46.20%), germination value (3.11), and germination index (2.07) revealing highest total sugar content (96.27 mg/g).

Abelmoschus caillei (A. Chev.) Stevels, a West African species found in India is discussed. Correct citation, detailed description, distribution, illustration and photographs are provided.

Ecological status of the flora of Tirthan Wildlife Sanctuary was undertaken to evaluate the biodiversity of this area. During the vegetation survey of Wildlife Sanctuary Tirthan in the different altitudinal zone, 23 species of trees and 18 species of shrubs were recorded. In the various altitudinal zone, the altitude 2500-3000m shows highest concentration of dominance, highest species diversity and also shows the highest evenness. The altitude 2000-2500m shows the highest richness of the trees. The species Celtis tetrandra and Taxus baccata are the dominant species whereas the species Abies pindrow, Cornus macrophylla and Cedrus deodara are sparsely present in altitude from 1500 to 3000m.

Pavetta gleniei Hook.f. is reported for the first time from the Nicobar Islands, India. A short description with line diagram, herbarium image and relevant notes is provided.

A study on floristic analysis and ecological assessment of the angiosperm plants in Tarai Region of Kumaun (Uttarakhand) was conducted during the period 2008 to 2011. The study site included Lalkuan (Nainital district) and Kichha tehsil (covering Pantnagar) of district Udham Singh Nagar as these occupy major part of Central Tarai. Total 429 angiospermic plant species were recorded for floristic and ecological analysis during study period. The plant species collected through extensive and intensive explorations were under taken in the study area during different seasons (i.e., summer, rainy, winter and spring) of the year in different ecosystem habitats viz., natural forests, plantations, agro-ecosystem, grassland, savanna, amphibious sites (marsh-meadow), wasteland and road sides. Collected species were classified in different life-forms following Raunkiaer and the biological spectrum for different ecological habitats, viz. natural forest, plantation(s) agro-ecosystem, grassland and for the entire study areas as a whole has been developed.

Acriopsis liliifolia (J. Koenig) Ormerod, Apostasia wallichii R. Br., Cryptostylis arachnites (Blume) Hassk. and Nephelaphyllum pulchrum Blume, from North Andaman form new additions to the orchid flora of Andaman & Nicobar archipelago.

Adiantum venustum D.Don (Adiantaceae) is reported as a new record for the pteridophytic flora of Central India from Achanakmar-Amarkantak Biosphere Reserve. Detailed description, illustration and relevant notes are provided for its easy identification.

In continuation to the series on ‘Additions to the Flora of Himachal Pradesh from Sirmour District’, five new additions of angiosperm species are being reported here for the first time from the state of Himachal Pradesh.

The present manuscript deals with 42 species of Pteridophytes (Ferns and Fern-allies) occurring at Lansdowne town. Family polypodiaceae was observed as the most dominative family with highest of 7 species growing epiphytically in the area. The altitudinal range of 1000-2000m was observed as the most favoured zone in terms of richness of species.

One wild banana, Musa sabuana belonging to the Sect. Musa is newly described from Panchavati and Ramakrishnapur Dam area in Andaman Islands, India. This extremely rare new species is found only in Middle and Little Andamans. Additional notes, IUCN status, Phenology and  photographs are also provided.