Transformation of barren lands into productive ecosystems needs an intensive effort to develop desired land use systems, corresponding to degree of soil deterioration. In highly sodic soils, several constraints viz. high pH and ESP, low carbon and nitrogen, poor water permeability, a low microbial diversity, crusting, hard setting of Kankar pan (Ca CO3 layer) in sub-soil, interfere to the root penetration and plants growth and unless the soil is locally amended to some extent, cropping is difficult. Chemical treatment of soils with gypsum or pyrite is usually in practice for cropping which does not lead to a stable reclamation and quite a few instances are available for resodification when the cultivation is dropped for a few years. Such threats can be countered with raising the perennial plantations. Monoculture and agroforestry raising crops for commercial interest and mixed forest for environmental conservation are the two available options for adopting in balance proportions. Reclamation of sodic soil is a slow process and it cannot offset the adverse soil conditions completely even in last 4-5 decades. However some invasive species were found to be relatively more efficient in a speedy recovery such as Prosopis juliflora and Leucaena leucocephalla. Although annual cropping and afforestation both reclaim the soil but in different ways. Forests provide a reconstructed community habitat for several biotas, whereas cultivations accomplish the societal demand. It would be useful to undergo for a better proportion after due consideration of site conditions, deterioration status, drainage, water logging management, and salt tolerance potentials of the crops/plants to be considered.

The Karuvannur River is an important river of Kerala that drains into the Northern part of Vembanad Kole wetland system, a Ramsar site. Urbanisation, changes in land-use practices and unscientific sand mining have resulted in the deterioration of water quality and also increases the water shortage especially during extreme summer season. Deforestation, for food fodder and fuel wood, and indiscriminate sand mining in the catchments area have resulted the drop of water table level of the area. Unscientific land-use and cropping pattern changes in a watershed, often cause problems in water conservation, both in upland and down streams. In a watershed both uplands and down streams are closely interlinked. The nature and extent of their linkage specially in a forested ecosystem needs more attention. The Karuvnnur watershed has a total extend of 956.95 km2 and drainage density was estimated as 1.104. In the present study efforts have been made to use Remote Sensing data and GIS Techniques for mapping and monitoring of the vegetation pattern of the watershed area.  It is found that 36.48% of watershed area is covered by forests, plantation (Rubber and Teak) occupies 5.49% of the area, and 1.35% of the area by scrublands. Reservoir and other water bodies occupy 9.08% of the watershed area.

The paper describes the socio-economic conditions and some strategies to restore the productivity of eight villages in Henval Watershed in the Tehri Garhwal Himalayas. The study reveals that the ratio of female to male population is more due to migration of males in search of livelihood to the other places. The average livestock varies from 4.43 to 5.40 per family and average land holding from 0.26 ha (Manjyar) to 1.52 ha (Jaul). Almost all the families in surveyed villages are engaged in farming and their average annual income per family per year is very low and varies from Rs 4000/- to Rs 6500/- per month. Fodder and fuel wood collection is done from the nearby forests, mainly by the women and children of the family and they spend 3 to 4 hours in these activities. Due to grazing of animals and collection of fodder and fuel wood, these activities cause environmental depletion It is suggested that afforestation of village forest /community land through Agroforestry models like silvipasture/ silvihorti system etc, can provide a key to the economic prosperity of the rural hills and would also be helpful in fulfilling the requirements of local inhabitants and ultimately balancing the whole ecology of the Garhwal Himalayas.

Present paper reports on breeding biology of Chukar partridge Alectoris chukar studied in district Pauri Garhwal, Uttarakhand. Observations made from August 2008 to October 2009 revealed that Chukar breeds in spring-summer. Pairing between male and female occurs from mid February, territory formation in March, nesting and egg laying observed in the month of April.  Four to 12 eggs were layed in simple scrape or on open ground having small vegetation cover. Only grass cover was recorded more than fifty percent.  Hatching success was recorded 60 to 90 percent.

The present study was carried out to estimate the genetic variability, heritability and genetic advance in various clones of Eucalyptus tereticornis. The estimates of phenotypic and genotypic coefficients of variation clearly reflected the presence of large amount of genetic variability for clearbole height and unforked height, and reasonable amount of genetic variability for total height and diameter at breast height. Heritability estimates (in broad sense) reflected the predominance of heritable variation for all the characters under study. The estimates of genetic advance as percentage of mean clearly suggested the potentiality of the clonal material for improvement of total height, diameter, clearbole height and unforked height through selection. Significant positive correlation was observed among clearbole height and unforked height indicating the positive association of these characters with each other.

Community wide pattern in both vegetative and reproductive phenologies among various species in dry deciduous forest of Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary is reported here. Factors influencing the phenology and seasonality of phenological events are discussed. Phenological patterns observed in Bhadra were in conformity with patterns described in other dry forests of India. A quantitative measure of seasonality in various phenophases is provided.

To evaluate the existing Agroforestry Systems in Kupwara, (J&K) the study was undertaken in year 2006-2007 on block level basis in randomly selected 6 blocks which accounted for 50% of the sampling areas. Trees species, Poplar species, Salix species, Ulmus wallichiana, Juglans regia, Robinia pseudoacacia, etc. were found growing inside crop fields, on the boundaries at high densities under different Agroforestry Systems. The same species forms different communities. Agriculture crop were grown with different kinds of fruit trees, viz Apple, Peach, Pear, Plum, Apricot. However, Peach, Pear, Plum, Apricot trees were grown at scattered places in the orchards. Maize was found to be grown by the farmers throughout districts. However, Paddy was confined only to plain parts. The fuel wood needs were fulfilled by the adjoining forests.

Outbreaks of powdery mildew caused by Erysiphe australiana McAlp. on Lagerstroemia indica L. has been observed in and around Kathmandu valley since last few years. So far there are no published reports of this disease in Nepal.

Fifty-seven clones of Teak representing nine provenances of Karnataka were field evaluated for their natural resistance against Hyblaea puera in a twenty-three-year-old clonal seed orchard of Teak of South India.  Results, based on average leaf-damage intensity over two years of observations, revealed that six Teak clones viz., MyMK-3 from Southern provenance, MyKN-1, MyKN-46 from Central provenance, STG-3, STG-06 of state graft series as well as Teli Teak of Dandeli were found to be resistant and other 23 clones were moderately resistant to Teak defoliator. The clone MyHuT-3 of Southern provenance was most susceptible and the remaining 27 clones were susceptible to H. puera. These findings suggest the existence of quantitative resistance among Teak clones against H. puera, and suggest the possibility of using resistant clones in the integrated pest management. This is perhaps the first report wherein a large number of Teak clones of Karnataka have been field evaluated for the resistance against H. puera.

An important aspect in breeding is to identify the disease resistant and susceptible varieties to use the resistant varieties in breeding programme. Therefore twelve indigenous mulberry genotypes i. e.S13, C1730, S146, Anantha, TGC, TR10, V1, S1635, C2017, Besalla, RFS 175, and C 2016 were selected to screen their resistance against leaf spot, powdery mildew, leaf blight and leaf rust diseases. The disease incidence was recorded during spring and autumn crops after full expression of the disease under natural conditions.

The Indian lac insect Kerria lacca (Coccoidea: Tachardiidae) is a beneficial insect, exploited commercially for lac, from which economically important resin, dye and wax are obtained. Natural infestations of this species have been recorded on two hitherto unreported host plants, Acacia tortilis (Forsskal) Hayne and Calliandra surinamensis Benth. Both species belong to Fabaceae, the family which comprises of about one-thirds of reported lac host species. Fairly large populations of the lac insects of good density have been observed on these hosts, indicative of good survival of the lac insect. The plant characteristics have also been discussed for their suitability from lac cultivation stand point.

A new variety, Corydalis vaginans Royle var. jadagangensis Pusalkar & D.K. Singh, is described and illustrated from the Western Himalaya, along with the report of Corydalis govaniana Wall. var. swatensis (Kitam.) Jafri, as a new record for Indian Flora.

A total of 122 species under 56 genera and 32 families were recorded from Itanagar Wildlife Sanctuary, Arunachal Pradesh during 2008-2009. Among these 29 families, 53 genera, 118 species are ferns, while 3 families, 3 genera and 4 species belong to fern allies. Polypodiaceae with 20 species, Pteridaceae with 19 species and Thelypteridaceae with 15 species were among the dominant families.

Cordia crenata Delile, belonging to family Ehretiaceae had earlier been regarded as a rare and endemic tree, being reported only from Ajmer (Rajasthan) throughout India. Outside India C. crenata has been reported only as a cultivated tree in Egypt. A recent survey of South Rajasthan and parts of Gujarat state undertaken by the authors has revealed the occurrence of C. crenata at many places in good numbers.  Hence, C. crenata is no more a rare and an endemic tree.

Three terrestrial orchids, Eulophia graminea Lindl., E. ochreata Lindl. and Habenaria barbata Wight ex Hook. f. have been rediscovered in Andhra Pradesh after a lapse of eight decades from different localities of Eastern Ghats. Description along with photographs of herbarium specimens is provided.

Ten taxa of Cyperaceae viz. Carex filicina var. glaucina (Boeckeler) Kuk., Cyperus alulatus J. Kern, C. cyperinus var. pictus (Nees) Kuk., C. digitatus Roxb., C. haspan subsp. juncoides (Lam.) Kuk., C. paniceus (Rottb.) Boeckeler var. paniceus, C. paniceus var. roxburghianus (C.B. Clarke) Kuk., Pycreus diaphanus (Roem. & Schult.) S.S. Hooper & T. Koyama, P. pumilus var. membranaceus (Vahl) Karthik. and Scleria levis var. pubescens (Steud.) C.Z. Zheng are added to the flora of Goa.

The present communication enumerates 24 algal taxa out of which four belong to Cyanophyceae and nineteen Chlorophyceae. The area was surveyed for the first time and all taxa have been reported for the first time from Katarniya Ghat Wildlife Sanctuary.

Syzygium chandrasekharanii, a new species described from the Anamalais on the Western Ghats, is found to be conspecific with the less known Indo-Srilankan species Syzygium fergusonii (Trimen) Gamble and hence it is synonymized.

Morphology of Aerides maculosa Lindl. with variations observed in the biotypes from Rajasthan and Orissa is provided in this communication supported by scientific drawings.

Notholirion macrophyllum (D. Don) Boiss. is reported for the first time from Western Himalaya.

Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh comprise with seven districts viz. Banda, Chitrakoot (separated from Banda), Jalaun, Jhansi, Lalitpur, Hamirpur and Mahoba (separated from Hamirpur). Recently it was re-investigated as district floras and recorded 159 species of trees from the area. Out of which 105 species are recollected and 41 species are found to be common mainly due to their plantation or cultivation for socio-cultural value while 52 species of trees are not collected from any district. The forests have much more pressure for fuel wood and small timber than what they can withstand as a matter of sustained productivity.

Medinilla speciosa (Reinw. ex Blume) Blume collected from the Campbell Bay National Park, Great Nicobar Island is reported here as a new record to the angiosperm flora of India. Brief description, illustration and photographs are provided.

Sonerila devicolamensis Nayar, an endemic species of the Southern Western Ghats, is rediscovered from its type locality after its description. Detailed description and illustration are provided, based on the fresh collection.

Garhwal Himalayas present a rich and diverse pteridophytic flora. Chamoli and Rudraprayag the two major districts of Garhwal were extensiverly explored by the authors between the years 2002-2006. During the field study a great range of morphological variations in rhizome, stipe, lamina, pinna, arrangement of pinna, pinnation, pinna apex, venation pattern, spore morphology was noticed in few species of ferns from the area under study.

A detailed floristic and phytogeographical study of Kudiraimozhi theri was done during 2004- 2007. Among the 510 taxa distributed under 94 families studied from this region. Poaceae is the largest family with 50 species.

Sacred groves are patches of forests protected on socio-religious grounds. Being islands of biodiversity, they are traditional way of in-situ conservation of nature. This paper highlights the role of Chilkigarh Kanak Durga sacred grove in West Bengal towards conservation of 388 species of angiosperms under 295 genera covering 92 families. The study records 208, 45, 89 and 46 species of herbs, shrubs, trees and climbers respectively. The grove also supports 105 species of medicinal plants, 10 species of timber yielding plants, 17 species with edible fruits and 11 species with sacred value. This study calls for the continued protection of the grove.

The present paper highlights the distribution of an endemic shrub, Capparis grandiflora Wall. ex Hook.f. and Thomson (Capparaceae) in peninsular India. It also reports the additional locality records hitherto unreported.

Polystichum manickamianum Benniamin, Fraser-Jenkins & Irudayaraj hitherto known only from Tamil Nadu is reported here for the first time from Kerala. Detailed description, photographs and relevant notes are provided for easy identification.

Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary is situated in the Western Ghats region of Karnataka and it is a home for diverse flora and fauna. The Sanctuary represents dry deciduous, moist deciduous and evergreen type of vegetation. Present study was under taken (2004–2006) to survey, identify, and document and to know the economic importance of grass species in four ranges of the Sanctuary. Results of the present study indicated that 67 grass species belonging to 48 genera and 9 tribes are growing in the Sanctuary and 36 species are known for their fodder and forage values. Lakkavalli range harboured 50 grass species followed by Tanigebylu and Hebbe (39 each).  Many grass species have not been documented in the literature. This is the first report on the grass species of the Sanctuary.

A rare sedge, Rhynchospora submarginata Kuek., thought to be extinct from India, was rediscovered recently from the coastal belt of Kollam district in Kerala. It was last seen by Robert Wight from Kollam during 1866-1868 and then it was never collected again from the political boundary of Indian subcontinent. Its rediscovery is of great scientific interest especially as it shows disjunct distribution by occurring in Malaysia, Thailand and Australia apart from India.