Recreational angling markets to advance the conservation of a reach of the Western Ramganga River,India

• 1. Mahseer fishes of the genus Tor are ‘iconic species’ in Indian rivers, representing ‘flagship’ species for conservation purposes but with additional exploitable, cultural and economic values. Conservation action is required to address their vulnerability to numerous pressures on multiple habitats, and connections between them, across the extended aquatic ecosystems supporting different life stages.
• 2. Recreational angling for mahseer, along with associated wildlife and cultural tourism, is a growth industry dependent upon healthy river ecosystems.
• 3. A cyclic, ecosystem‐based model in which local people can benefit economically from sustainable mahseer exploitation through catch‐and‐release fisheries can form a basis for conservation of both mahseer and the wider river ecosystem.
• 4. Experience on the Western Ramganga River in the vicinity of the town of Bikhyasen, Uttarakhand State (in the Himalayas in northern India), demonstrates the importance of involving local people in the benefits associated with angling, wildlife and cultural tourism. This creates local incentives for river protection, and may be the most effective means for preventing destructive over‐exploitation in poor rural communities.
• 5. Recognition of this value and its recirculation to local people can form the basis for a ‘paying for ecosystems services’ (PES) market. This will benefit river ecosystems, local people, tour operators and visiting anglers, provided that local people benefit to a greater extent than through the killing of fish for non‐renewable consumption or sale.
• 6. This is the basis for a potentially transferable model which may support regional development through involving local people in markets for iconic species. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

     

Composition and diversity of five major forest types in moist temperate climate of the western Himalayas

The present study was undertaken in five major forest types (dominated by Quercus semecarpifolia, Quercus floribunda, Acer acuminatum, Abies pindrow and Aesculus indica, respectively) between 2400 and 2850 m a.s.l. in a moist temperate forest of the Mandal-Chopta area in the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand, India. The aim was to assess the variation in composition and diversity in different vegetation layers, i.e., herb, shrub and tree, among these five forest types. Diversity indices, such as the Shannon-Wiener diversity index, density, total basal cover, Simpson’s concentration of dominance index, Simpson’s diversity index, Pielou’s equitability, species richness, species heterogeneity and β-diversity, were calculated to understand community structures. Dominance-diversity curves were drawn to ascertain resource apportionment among various species in different forest types.     

Carbon sequestration and relationship between carbon addition and storage under rainfed soybean–wheat rotation in a sandy loam soil of the Indian Himalayas

Soil organic matter (SOM) contributes to the productivity and physical properties of soils. Although crop productivity is sustained mainly through the application of organic manure in the Indian Himalayas, no information is available on the effects of long-term manure addition along with mineral fertilizers on C sequestration and the contribution of total C input towards soil organic C (SOC) storage. We analyzed results of a long-term experiment, initiated in 1973 on a sandy loam soil under rainfed conditions to determine the influence of different combinations of NPK fertilizer and fertilizer + farmyard manure (FYM) at 10 Mg ha⁻¹ on SOC content and its changes in the 0–45 cm soil depth. Concentration of SOC increased 40 and 70% in the NPK + FYM-treated plots as compared to NPK (43.1 Mg C ha⁻¹) and unfertilized control plots (35.5 Mg C ha⁻¹), respectively. Average annual contribution of C input from soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) was 29% and that from wheat (Triticum aestivum L. Emend. Flori and Paol) was 24% of the harvestable above-ground biomass yield. Annual gross C input and annual rate of total SOC enrichment were 4852 and 900 kg C ha⁻¹, respectively, for the plots under NPK + FYM. It was estimated that 19% of the gross C input contributed towards the increase in SOC content. C loss from native SOM during 30 years averaged 61 kg C ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹. The estimated quantity of biomass C required to maintain equilibrium SOM content was 321 kg ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹. The total annual C input by the soybean–wheat rotation in the plots under unfertilized control was 890 kg ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹. Thus, increase in SOC concentration under long-term (30 years) rainfed soybean–wheat cropping was due to the fact that annual C input by the system was higher than the required amount to maintaining equilibrium SOM content.     

Human-wildlife conflict in the Kingdom of Bhutan: Patterns of livestock predation by large mammalian carnivores

We examined predation activity throughout Bhutan by tiger (Panthera tigris), common leopard (Panthera pardus), snow leopard (Uncia uncia) and Himalayan black bear (Ursus thibetanus) on a variety of livestock types using data gathered over the first two years (2003-2005) of a compensation scheme for livestock losses. One thousand three hundred and seventy five kills were documented, with leopards killing significantly more livestock (70% of all kills), than tigers (19%), bears (8%) and snow leopards (2%). About 50% of livestock killing were of cattle, and about 33% were of horses, with tigers, leopards and snow leopards killing a significantly greater proportion of horses than predicted from availability. Examination of cattle kills showed that leopards killed a significantly greater proportion of smaller prey (e.g., calves), whereas tigers killed a significantly greater proportion of larger prey (e.g., bulls). Overall, livestock predation was greatest in summer and autumn which corresponded with a peak in cropping agriculture; livestock are turned out to pasture and forest during the cropping season, and subsequently, are less well guarded than at other times. Across Bhutan, high horse density and low cattle and yak density were associated with high rates of livestock attack, but no relationship was found with forest cover or human population density. Several northern districts were identified as ‘predation hotspots’, where proportions of livestock lost to predation were considerable, and the ratio of reported kills to relative abundance of livestock was high. Implications of our findings for mitigating livestock losses and for conserving large carnivores in Bhutan are discussed.     

基于GIS的雪崩对冰湖风险性评估——以喜马拉雅山科西河流域为例

雪崩是冰湖风险性评估的因子之一,借鉴欧美发展起来的雪崩模型,在冰湖溃决洪水频发的喜马拉雅山地区开展雪崩对冰湖风险性评估研究具有重要意义。基于ICIMOD IKONOS DEM和Landsat-TM数据,利用GIS方法提取了研究区雪崩形成的海拔、平面曲率、坡度和地表覆盖类型等估算因子,根据Av=(Al+Fy)×S×Rg模型估算了研究区潜在雪崩形成区域,并应用GIS方法和α-β模型估算了雪崩的传播路径。结果表明:潜在雪崩不易形成的"低"值多分布在谷底及地表覆盖类型为密林的山坡上,而"高"、"较高"值多分布在坡度为30°~50°、地表类型以裸岩或草地为主的山坡和冰川上,这些分布符合雪崩形成的客观实际;分析判断发现研究区内"高"值区域,也就是潜在雪崩形成区共有98处,其中有10处能够进入冰湖,对这些冰湖的稳定性造成风险,这意味着在分析研究区所有冰湖的溃决风险性时,只有受到潜在雪崩影响的9个冰湖需要考虑雪崩因素,其余冰湖在冰湖溃决诱因筛选中无需考虑雪崩因子。     

Agroforestry systems in the Garhwal Himalayas of India

Agroforestry systems, though at subsistence level are well established in Garhwal Himalayas. The farmers undertake cultivation of various crops, seasonal and biennials crops with trees all in mixtures on the same piece of land. Farm animals and poultry form an essential component of the systems. The intimate association of different species provides both subsistence and commercial products which give additional income to the farmer. The paper describes the general scenario of socio-economic condition and existing agroforestry practices and some suggestions for their improvement in the Garhwal Himalayas.     

Late Quaternary alluvial fans and paleosols of the Kangra basin,NW Himalaya: Tectonic and paleoclimatic implications

The paper describes Late Quaternary pedosedimentary sequences of the alluvial fans from the Kangra basin of NW Himalayas for tectonic and paleoclimatic implications. In the proximal part of the Kangra basin three coalescing alluvial fans, namely Rait-Rihlu fans (~ 65 km²), Kangra fans (~ 200 km²), and Palampur fans (~ 170 km²) from west to east evolved due to reactivation of longitudinal and transverse faults and climatic changes during the Late Quaternary. The fans are characterised by subsidence of Rait-Rihlu fans, uplift of Kangra fans and tilting of Palampur fans. The thick (~ 90 m) pedosedimentary sequences exposed along the rivers characterise the dominant formative processes over the fans. The stream flow sediments dominate the Rait-Rihlu fans, whereas the debris flow sediments dominate the Kangra and Palampur fans. The fan sequences are also marked by the formation of strongly developed paleosols on loess (L1–L3 loess paleosols) and weakly developed paleosols on fluvial deposits in response to the tectonics and climate change in NW Himalayas.     

Effect of polyacrylamide and gypsum on surface runoff, sediment yield and nutrient losses from steep slopes

Hilly terrains with steep slopes and poor vegetative cover are prone to soil erosion. Crop productivity from such lands can be increased by adding correct amounts of soil conditioners such as polyacrylamide (PAM) and gypsum (G) to reduce soil erosion and to improve settling of suspended sediment. The field experiments were conducted in hilly areas with 97% land slope to evaluate the effectiveness of PAM and G when applied as single and concurrent doses of 20 and 2500 kg ha⁻¹, respectively to check surface runoff, sediment yield and major nutrient (N, P, and K) losses under natural rainfall conditions. The results indicate that concurrent application of PAM and G was most effective closely followed by G alone. However, considering the costs of PAM and gypsum and labor involved in their concurrent application on large scale, the application of gypsum alone is recommended in controlling the surface runoff, sediment yield and major nutrient losses from steeply sloped lands in Indian Himalayas.     

System of rice intensification in short duration rice hybrids under varying bio-physical regimes: New opportunities to enhance rice productivity and rural livelihoods in North-Western Himalayas under a participatory-mode technology transfer program

Abstract

To harness the benefits of system of rice intensification (SRI) coupled with short-duration rice-hybrids, 10 multi-location “On-Farm-Trials” were conducted during 2007–2012 in Himachal Pradesh, India. The study revealed that rice-hybrids were more productive with higher resource-use-efficiency than high-yielding-varieties (HYVs) both under conventional-transplanting (CT) and SRI. The Arize-6129 rice-hybrid exhibited wider adaptability for CT and SRI under varying bio-physical regimes. Arize-6129 rice-hybrid under SRI in rainfed medium-fertility, irrigated medium-fertility and irrigated high-fertility situations yielded about 6.75–6.88, 7.00–7.86, and 7.58-8.32 t grains ha^?1, respectively; with respective net returns of INR 48,517–49,761, 57,240–62,603 and 64,333–66,748?ha^?1. After Arize-6129, “Swift,” “US-312,” and “PAC-801” are the alternate options for SRI-cultivation. Adoption of SRI using short-duration rice-hybrids under participator-mode technology-transfer program, led to higher net income gains by 29.4% over CT in study area. Overall, SRI using short-duration rice-hybrids has provided new opportunities to enhance rice productivity and profitability to transform rural-livelihoods in wet-temperate NW Himalayas.