Ficus auriculata — its relative importance in Bhutan, farmers' preference and fodder quality

Tree leaves are important traditional fodder sources in many parts of the Himalaya, particularly during the dry winter season. Households interviewed in different regions of Bhutan used 1–13 different tree species for fodder, with Ficus auriculata standing out as the preferred and most widely used species across a range of conditions. It is preferred because of the wide range of adaptation, good nutritional qualities and palatability, and its good productivity. Ficus auriculata is also an important tree fodder in the Himalayan region of Nepal and India. Its fodder quality is far superior to paddy straw, the main winter fodder in the rice growing regions of the Himalayas. Parameters recorded in the literature for crude protein, neutral detergent fibre and acid detergent fiber are 9.5–17.3, 46.2–58.4 and 36.1–45.8%, respectively. Farmers consider it to be better than rice straw and the fodder from the tree fodder species Celtis tetrandra, Brassaiopsis hainla, Stereospermum suaveolens, Bauhinia purpurea and Litsea polyantha. Average annual fresh yield per tree was reported as 200, 120, 112, 108, 108 and 96 kg for F. auriculata, Artocarpus lakoocha, Gmelina arborea, F. cunia, Litsea monopetala and Stereospermum suaveolens, respectively. Considering the current importance of F. auriculata it is imperative to carry out research exploring its potential in evolving production systems and to quantify the opportunities of improving its nutritional quality and productivity through selection.This revised version was published online in November 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The influence of time,soil moisture and exogenous factors on the survival potential of oospores and chlamydospores of Phytophthora cinnamomi

The mode of persistence of Phytophthora cinnamomi, a highly aggressive soil‐ and water‐borne pathogen, remains unclear. This study investigated the survival of viable oospores and chlamydospores of P. cinnamomi when present as free propagules in untreated soil, or in soil subject to four exogenous treatments: smoke water, fish emulsion and two fungicides (ridomil and furalaxyl). The exogenous treatments were applied under moist and dry soil conditions. Spore viability was determined by the thiazolyl blue tetrazolium bromide (MTT) staining technique, with a qPCR assay used to compare general patterns of decline. Over 96% of oospores lost viability over a period of 48 weeks irrespective of soil moisture conditions. The mean percentage viability for oospores decreased from 91% at time zero to 72, 35, 20 and 1% after 6, 12, 24 and 48 weeks, respectively. Reduction in viability of chlamydospores was more rapid than oospores, with viability declining from 92% to zero after 12 weeks. There was no significant difference between untreated soil and the exogenous treatments. The RNA‐based qPCR assay indicated a strong presence of viable oospores of P. cinnamomi up to week 12 for moist soil and week 3 for dry soil, but thereafter failed to detect RNA even though viable oospores could be detected by MTT staining. Based on the MTT staining, this study indicated that viability of P. cinnamomi oospores may be entirely lost within 1 year and that of chlamydospores within 3 months for the soil type tested. Therefore, oospores and chlamydospores when existing as free propagules in soil appear unlikely to be involved in the long‐term survival of P. cinnamomi.     

Conservation and climate change: Assessing the vulnerability of snow leopard habitat to treeline shift in the Himalaya

Climate change is likely to affect the persistence of large, space-requiring species through habitat shifts, loss, and fragmentation. Anthropogenic land and resource use changes related to climate change can also impact the survival of wildlife. Thus, climate change has to be integrated into biodiversity conservation plans. We developed a hybrid approach to climate-adaptive conservation landscape planning for snow leopards in the Himalayan Mountains. We first mapped current snow leopard habitat using a mechanistic approach that incorporated field-based data, and then combined it with a climate impact model using a correlative approach. For the latter, we used statistical methods to test hypotheses about climatic drivers of treeline in the Himalaya and its potential response to climate change under three IPCC greenhouse gas emissions scenarios. We then assessed how change in treeline might affect the distribution of snow leopard habitat. Results indicate that about 30% of snow leopard habitat in the Himalaya may be lost due to a shifting treeline and consequent shrinking of the alpine zone, mostly along the southern edge of the range and in river valleys. But, a considerable amount of snow leopard habitat and linkages are likely to remain resilient to climate change, and these should be secured. This is because, as the area of snow leopard habitat fragments and shrinks, threats such as livestock grazing, retaliatory killing, and medicinal plant collection can intensify. We propose this approach for landscape conservation planning for other species with extensive spatial requirements that can also be umbrella species for overall biodiversity.