{"title":"Economic Value of Urban Green Space: A Travel Cost Approach for Viharamahadevi Urban Park, Sri Lanka","authors":"H. Karunarathne, U. Gunawardena","doi":"10.31357/jtfe.v10i1.4688","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31357/jtfe.v10i1.4688","url":null,"abstract":"Urban green spaces could bring cities and their inhabitants with vitality in terms of ecological, social, and economic benefits. Recognising and estimation of economic values of parks is important for their sound management and for justification of the current use over various alternative uses. Non recognition of values of the services of such green spaces may lead to unsound management and degradation resulting in depriving urban communities of those benefits. Viharamahadevi Urban Park is the oldest and largest park in Colombo which offers recreation and green space to the inhabitants and visitors of the city. The purpose of this study is to estimate the recreational value of the Park using Individual Travel Cost Method (ITCM). Visitors of Viharamahadevi Urban Park selected using purposive sampling method were interviewed with a structured questionnaire. Data on visitation frequencies, preferences for park characteristics and socio economic parameters were collected using face-to-face interviews. In order to cater for the data issues of the ITCM, a zero truncated negative binomial regression analysis was performed in estimating the demand function. Results indicate that household income and the enjoyment of the visitors significantly and positively determine the number of visits made by the people. The annual social welfare generated from the recreational value of the Viharamahadevi Park is LKR 55.7 billion. The estimated value will be able to provide significant guidance towards future park management decisions.","PeriodicalId":17445,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Tropical Forestry","volume":"36 12 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90662427","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Influence of Agroforestry on Rural Income and Livelihood of Smallholder Farmers in the Semi-Arid Region of Sub Saharan Africa","authors":"B. M. Kinyili, E. Ndunda, E. Kitur","doi":"10.31357/jtfe.v10i1.4691","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31357/jtfe.v10i1.4691","url":null,"abstract":"Semi-arid lands typically suffer from sustainable land use challenges including climate variability, declining agricultural productivity, low economic prowess and poor livelihood conditions. In order to sustainably address these challenges, agroforestry has been fronted as a critical entry point allowing for the integration of trees on farms and diversification of production in agricultural landscapes. Nevertheless, the contribution of agroforestry to socio-economic and rural livelihood in several developing countries remains debatable. This study determined the influence of agroforestry on rural income and livelihood of smallholder farmers in Machakos county (Kenya). The study was conducted using survey research design from a sample of 248 smallholder farmers, who were selected using stratified, random sampling. Data were collected using questionnaires and interviews. Results showed that agroforestry was adopted by 82% of the smallholder farmers as a strategy for livelihood improvement in the region. Total income was higher among adopters from timber, fuel wood, posts/poles and fodder. Adopters also had more money to spend on food, clothing, education, medicine and basic needs as a result of revenues from agroforestry. The overall gross revenue, net returns above variable costs and total costs were also higher among adopters compared to the non adopters due to sales of agroforestry products. The study recommends adoption of agroforestry as a strategy to boost rural income and livelihood.","PeriodicalId":17445,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Tropical Forestry","volume":"133 12","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"91467388","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Characteristics of Lowland Tropical Peatlands: Formation, Classification, and Decomposition","authors":"A. Ratnayake","doi":"10.31357/jtfe.v10i1.4685","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31357/jtfe.v10i1.4685","url":null,"abstract":"Tropical peatlands occur mostly in coastal lowlands, and it can be considered as larger sinkers of carbon and important ecosystem services for water resources, bio-resources and biodiversity. This article summarised characteristics, formation and classification of tropical lowland peatlands. Tropical peatlands cover about 11% of the global peatland resource (441,025 km 2 in area) and the estimation value can be changed with including all histosols and shallow organic soils. Tropical coastal peatlands were predominantly developed during the middle to late Holocene (between 3,500 to 6,000 years BP) under the wet conditions generated after the stabilisation and regression of middle Holocene sea-level highstands. Hydrology is a fundamental factor to the formation and function of tropical peatlands. There is no specific definition for the peatlands based on available references. The available definitions can be broadly divided into authoritative and scientific definitions. The authoritative definitions depend on specific uses and applications, while scientific definitions depend on field observations and experimental design/analytical methods. Tropical peatlands store abundant organic matter. However, the recent anthropogenic activities enhance the emission of stored carbon as greenhouse gasses such as CH4 and CO2.","PeriodicalId":17445,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Tropical Forestry","volume":"134 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73798104","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Carbon Stocks in Chir Pine (Pinus roxburghii) Forests on Two Different Aspects in the Mahabharat Region of Makawanpur, Nepal","authors":"P. Ghimire","doi":"10.31357/jtfe.v10i1.4687","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31357/jtfe.v10i1.4687","url":null,"abstract":"Despite the significant contribution of forests in climate change mitigation, studies to establish the potential of sub-tropical forest ecosystems at different aspects in enhancing soil health indicators are only partly known. The study was carried out to quantify vegetation and soil carbon stocks of a natural Chir Pine (Pinus roxburghii) forest at two different aspects (northern and southern) of a typical sub-tropical environment in Nepal. Stratified random sampling was used for forest inventory and soil sample collection. Aboveground forest biomass was calculated using standard allometric models. Soil was sampled up to 60 cm depth and at 20 cm intervals. Walkey and Black method was used to determine soil organic carbon. Total aboveground plant biomass carbon in southern aspect (140.20 t ha-1) was higher compared to that on the northern aspect (115.34 t ha-1). Similarly, soil carbon stock on southern aspect (46.65 t ha-1) was higher than that of northern aspect (42.14 t ha-1). This resulted to total carbon stock on southern and northern aspect of P. roxburghii forest of 186.85 t ha-1 and 157.48 t ha-1 respectively. The total carbon stock of P. roxburghii forest is significantly higher on southern aspect than on northern aspect with p value 0.001 (p<0.05). Hence, we conclude that the southern aspect of the Mahabharat range favour the growth of P. roxburghii forest compared to the northern aspect. However, the contribution of the entire Chir pine forest ecosystem to carbon sequestration and global climate warming mitigation can’t be neglected.","PeriodicalId":17445,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Tropical Forestry","volume":"58 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89736830","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Floristic and Phytoclimatic Study of an Indigenous Small Scale Natural Landscape Vegetation of Jhargram District, West Bengal, India","authors":"U. Sen, R. Bhakat","doi":"10.31357/jtfe.v10i1.4686","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31357/jtfe.v10i1.4686","url":null,"abstract":"Sacred groves are distinctive examples of biotic components as genetic resources being preserved in situ and serve as secure heavens for many endangered and endemic taxa. From this point of view, the biological spectrum, leaf spectrum and conservation status of the current sacred grove vegetation, SBT (Swarga Bauri Than) in Jhargram district of West Bengal, India, have been studied. The area's floristic study revealed that SBT‟s angiosperms were varied and consisted of 307 species belonging to 249 genera, distributed under 79 families of 36 orders as per APG IV. Fabales (12.05%) and Fabaceae (11.73%) are the dominant order and family in terms of species wealth. Biological spectrum indicates that the region enjoys “thero-chamae-cryptophytic” type of phytoclimate. With respect to the spectrum of the leaf size, mesophyll (14.05%) was found to be high followed by notophyll (7.84%), microphyll (7.19%), macrophyll (7.84%), nanophyll (6.86%), leptophyll (6.21%), and megaphyll (2.29%). The study area, being a sacred grove, it has a comparatively undisturbed status, and the protection of germplasm in the grove is based on traditional belief in the social system.","PeriodicalId":17445,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Tropical Forestry","volume":"70 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84106227","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A Geospatial Assessment of Deforestation of Sokponba and Ehor Forest Reserves in Edo State","authors":"A. Iyekekpolor, T. Balogun","doi":"10.31357/jtfe.v10i1.4690","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31357/jtfe.v10i1.4690","url":null,"abstract":"The study assesses the state of Sokponba and Ehor forest reserves in Edo state, with Landsat images of 1987, 2002 and 2018 using ENVI and ArcGIS software. Questionnaire was also administered to elicit information from respondents. The study reveals that within the period of 31 years under study Sokponba forest reserve has reduced from 28,913.63 ha in 1987 to 1,578.15 ha in 2018 while plantation and farmland increased from 15,357.96 ha in 1987 to 43,494.21 in 2018. Ehor reserve also reduced from 11,128.86 ha in 1987 to 3,242.28 in 2018. In the same vein, plantation and farmland increased from 1,424.97 ha in 1,987 to 9,323.28 ha in 2018. The deliberate government policies of allocating compartment to timber contractors for logging, conversion of reserves to oil palm plantation and farmland were identified as the major drivers responsible for the depletion of the forest reserves. Considering the consequential effects arising from deforestation such as carbon sequence, greenhouse effect (global warming) and flooding the study recommends reforestation and taungya farming system for sustainable environment.","PeriodicalId":17445,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Tropical Forestry","volume":"32 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"82919848","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Diversity and Threatened Climber Plants in Tropical Forests of Courtallam Hills, Southern Western Ghats, India","authors":"E. Pandian, P. Ravichandran","doi":"10.31357/jtfe.v9i2.4464","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31357/jtfe.v9i2.4464","url":null,"abstract":"Investigated the distribution of climber and its conservation status in tropical forests of Courtallam hills in southern Western Ghats of Tamil Nadu, India during 2017-2018. A total of five 1 ha plots were established, and all climber species ≥1 cm diameter at breast height (dbh) were counted, which resulted in a total of 81 climbing plant species that representing to 62 genera under 30 families. Study plots revealed the most abundant climber species are Jasminum flexile (Oleaceae), Salacia oblonga (Celastraceae) and Ziziphus oenopolia (Rhamnaceae). The dominant climber species families in the study plots include Apocynaceae (11 species), Leguminosae (10 species), Menispermaceae and Vitaceae (6 species each), Capparaceae and Oleaceae (5 species each) and Convolvulaceae (4 species). Among 81 climber species, about 12 species are documented as threatened species of Courtallam hills. The results of this investigation suggest that forest management and forest protection is important for in-situ conservation of liana diversity with the involvement of local community.","PeriodicalId":17445,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Tropical Forestry","volume":"36 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-02-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79528180","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
M. Panda, N. Lele, R. Samal, D. Dalai, S. Parida, T. Murthy
{"title":"Insect Flower Visitors and their Role in Mangrove Pollination: A Study from East Coast of India","authors":"M. Panda, N. Lele, R. Samal, D. Dalai, S. Parida, T. Murthy","doi":"10.31357/jtfe.v9i2.4470","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31357/jtfe.v9i2.4470","url":null,"abstract":"Insects play a critical role in bringing successful pollination in angiosperms. Mangrove pollination is a poorly studied aspect from scientific community. This particular work investigated the insect visitors and other prospective of mangrove flowers. Twenty two species (i.e., 17 true and 5 mangrove associates) from Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary and Devi estuary of Odisha state (East coast of India) were selected; plants were pre-marked and visiting insects were recorded starting from 07.00 am to 13.00 pm during the flowering period of each species. Fifty three species of insects which belongs to seven orders, twenty five families and forty four genera were recorded. The highest, i.e., 14 sp. of insects had been recorded from Aegiceras corniculatum which is a small tree and riverine mangrove. Among insects, bees were found as the most common flower visitors (in 82% mangroves) and particularly “honey bee”, i.e., Apis dorsata visited to sixteen mangrove species (i.e., 73% mangroves). Bees, particularly Honeybee (A. dorsata), sweet bee (Lasioglossum sp.) and carpenter bee (Xylocopa pubescens) were actively engaged in pollen dispersal. Resident time and visitation rate supported that bees with highest visitation rate and low resident time were powerful candidates in bringing mangrove pollination. Wasps, beetles and butterflies act more to be foraging species. Facilitation of bee management and particularly supporting apiculture will help to increase pollination successes of rare and threatened mangroves at regional and global level.","PeriodicalId":17445,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Tropical Forestry","volume":"2 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-12-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90772109","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
D. H. Tejavathi, B. Sumalatha, R. Nijagunaiah, P. Anitha, K. Gayatramma
{"title":"Studies on the factors that restrict sexual reproduction and fruit setting in Memecylon flavescens – an endangered taxon","authors":"D. H. Tejavathi, B. Sumalatha, R. Nijagunaiah, P. Anitha, K. Gayatramma","doi":"10.31357/jtfe.v9i2.4472","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31357/jtfe.v9i2.4472","url":null,"abstract":"Memecylon flavescens Gamble is an endangered taxon of Nilgiri region of Western Ghats. Extensive survey in the study area- Avalanche, Ooty made during 2015-18 has revealed a few interesting aspects about the sexual reproductive cycle. Fruit setting is substantially very low though profuse flowering occurs. Flowers are hermaphrodite, actinomorphic, tetramerous, pin type and protogynous, favouring cross-pollination. Pollen fertility as assessed by Alexander’s differential staining is about 30%. Sections of flower buds have revealed the infestation by undescribed gallmidge (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae). In 90% of the flower buds observed, gall midge galleries are seen at various levels in the flower bud, destroying the reproductive organs by larval feeding. Hence, negligible fruit setting is mainly due to gallmidge infestation. Protogynous nature and low percent of pollen fertility are added factors aggravating the effect on fruit setting.","PeriodicalId":17445,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Tropical Forestry","volume":"181 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-12-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80281675","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Determining the Performance of Plantation Grown Young Santalum album L. with Different Host Species","authors":"S. Subasinghe, K. Millaniyage, D. Hettiarachchi","doi":"10.31357/JTFE.V9I1.3946","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31357/JTFE.V9I1.3946","url":null,"abstract":"Sri Lanka is one of the pioneer countries to adopt the green economy concept and thereby promotes the establishment of forest plantations with the trees of high value. The essential oil produced in the heartwood of Santalum album, native to India, Indonesia and Sri Lanka fetches a very high price and it has been used for perfumery, medicinal, religious and cultural purposes over centuries of years. Due to the over-exploitation, S. album resource in the wild is diminishing and therefore the government implemented strict laws to protect it. Although plantation establishment has been recently started, management became difficult due to lack of technical information. S. album is an obligate hemi-parasite, and obtains certain nutrients from potential host trees via root connections called haustoria. Therefore identifying the most suitable host species in S. album plantation establishment is essential. In order to test the impacts of different host species, a field trial of two hosts per S. album was established and maintained for three years for this study. S. album growth under 21 combinations of six host species including legumes (Acacia auriculiformis, Calliandra calothyrus, Gliricidia sepium, Sesbenia grandiflora) and non-legumes (Coffea arabica, Gravellia robusta) were examined. Height of S. album was measured at two week intervals. Leaf nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium and magnesium of S. album grown with 21 host combinations were also analyzed at regular intervals. Height of S. album was significantly different when planted with different hosts. Calliandra calothyrus was found to be the best host species in increasing height of S. album. It was followed by Acacia auriculiformis and Sesbenia grandiflora. The nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and magnesium contents of S. album leaves were not significant when planted with the tested host combinations. Therefore the significant height growth of S. album could be caused due to the absorption of water at different levels from different host species.","PeriodicalId":17445,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Tropical Forestry","volume":"282 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-08-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81791865","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}