Changes in Forest Cover in a Central Himalayan Catchment: Inadequacy of Assessment Based on Forest Area Alone

✍ Scribed by S.K.S. Rathore; S.P. Singh; J.S. Singh; A.K. Tiwari

• Book ID: 102587728
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1997
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 421 KB
• Volume: 49
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0301-4797
• DOI: 10.1006/jema.1995.0096

✦ Synopsis

The Central Himalayan region experiences severe ecological problems as a result of continuous deforestation, which threatens the subsistence population of the region. In the present study, changes in the forest cover of a catchment over a period of 16 years have been quantified. Baliya catchment (7783 ha) contains 2865•47 ha of different types of forest, i.e. sal (Shorea robusta), mixed sal, pine (Pinus roxburghii), pine-mixed broadleaf, mixed oak (Quercus spp.), cupressus (Cupressus torulosa). The process of fragmentation has been studied through changes in forest area and biomass. There has been a sharp decline in biomass, although only a marginal reduction in forest area (3•5%) has occurred. Decline in the stocking density has also been substantial. Forest area with higher crown cover (>60%) declined from 736•32 ha to 292 ha during 1973-1989, indicating the intensity of human interference.