In Kumaun Himalaya, the shrublands dominated by Coriaria nepalensis are present in patches and due to their facilitative nature enhance the restoration of degraded hills.This study deals with the dry matter dynamics of C. nepalensis shrublands. The equation for C. nepalensis was developed to measure the biomass and to understand the dry matter dynamics through compartmental models. Total biomass of tree, shrub and herb varied from 71.66 to 217.40 t ha À1 , 43.65 to 77.55 t ha À1 and 11.11 to 64.55 t ha À1 , respectively. The biomass of herbs was higher during monsoon and lowest during the summer season. Litter fall varied from 1.02-1.70 t ha À1 yr À1 and the highest value of litter fall was recorded during winter (52%) followed by rainy (29%) and summer season (19%). Order of contribution of different components to total litter fall was: foliage (45.32%-50.33%) > twigs (36.80%-42.22%) > miscellaneous litter (4.62%-6.97%) > Bark (3.56%-5.47%) > reproductive parts (2.13%-3.57%). Shrub floor biomass was recorded maximum during the rainy season (11.32-37.55 t ha À1 ) followed by the winter season (13.03-25.36 t ha À1 ) and minimum in the summer season (6.83-12.80 t ha À1 ). Net primary productivity in trees, shrubs and sapling was ranged from 0.94 to 11.01, 1.83 to 4.88 and 0.55 to 0.87, respectively. Due to less canopy cover, the litter fall was less than from the majority of the forest types of the region. Thus, proper conservation and management measures must be designed to improve the structural components and functional traits of the shrubland ecosystem to enhance the ecological services on sustained basis.

Vigna is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae with worldwide distribution. In the present study, effect of salt stress was investigated in four species of Vigna viz. V. mungo (urd), V. angularis (rais), V. radiata (moong) and V. aconitifolia (moth) at germination and seedling growth stages in a glasshouse experiment. Seeds of selected crops were surface sterilized and placed under three salt stress levels of 0 (control), 50mM and 100mM using NaCl solutions. Three replicates for each treatment was used for this experiment. The results indicated that increase in salt stress levels caused a reduction in germination percentage, germination rate, shoot length, root length and seedling dry weight of each Vigna species. The overall results indicated that among the four species, V. aconitifolia was the most sensitive, whereas V. mungo was the least sensitive species to the salinity in almost every aspect of growth.

Kumaun Himalaya is one of the unique systems rich in indigenous traditional knowledge and culturally strong. In the present study, qualitative and quantitative data were on agro-biodiversity through field and literature survey. Altogether, 160 plant species belonging to 117 genera and 57 families were recorded. In addition, a large number of land races, varieties and wild relatives are also being used. Cultivation of these crops is mainly of subsistence in nature rather than for commercial purposes. Due to a number of reasons, the area under traditional crops is declining in Kumaun Himalayan region but many of the crop varieties are still conserved because of their socio-cultural and religious values. The human population has increased over time forcing farmers to change their cropping patterns, for example, replacement of mixed cropping to mono-cropping and switching over to cash crops. This has adverse implications on traditional agro-biodiversity of the region. There are both local and global advantages in supporting a dynamic traditional system of agro-biodiversity management. Therefore, promotion and conservation of agro-biodiversity should be done through sustainable use and on- farm and off- farm management.

Coriaria nepalensis is one of the shrubs which have the ability to mitigate the frequency of perilous natural events or natural calamities. This paper elucidates the nutrient dynamics of C. nepalensis shrublands in degraded hills of Kumaun Himalaya. The average nutrient concentration (N, P, and K) in aboveground components of C. nepalensis was in the following order: Foliage > Twigs > Branches > Bole wood, whereas in belowground components the order was: Fine roots > Lateral roots > Stump root. The order of contribution to total nutrient storage in vegetation was: Tree > Herbs > Shrubs. The proportion of nutrients stored in the shrub layer was in the order: N > K > P. The soil stored a maximum proportion of nutrients at each site (79.48–87.54% N, 70.47–87.88% P, 74.33–88.27% K). Maximum nutrient storage in soil and vegetation was recorded for site 3 (Barapatthar) and minimum for site 1 (Pines). The uptake of N, P, and K by vegetation ranged from 428 to 1,353 kg ha–1 yr–1, 32–102 kg ha–1 yr–1, and 109–479 kg ha–1 yr–1, respectively. In the present study, the turnover time was 1.06–1.33 years for N, 1.03–1.15 years for P, and 1.02–1.13 years for K. Compartment models reflect the distribution of nutrients and net annual flux that will help to develop the management plan to maintain the fertility and productiveness of the degraded sites.

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Coriaria nepalensis, a nitrogen-fixing actinorhizal shrub, is a prominent and successful colonizer of bare rocks and landslide affected degraded lands. Field experiments were conducted to determine the differences in biomass decomposition and nutrient release pattern of different plant parts of C. nepalensis using litter bag technique. Results showed that the leaves decomposed completely within 6 months while only 46.55% of the lateral roots were decomposed with slowest decomposition rate of 0.14% day–1. The decomposition rate was in the order: Leaves > Reproductive parts > Twigs (< 5 mm) > Twigs (> 5 mm) > Bark > Fine roots > Lateral roots. The decay rate coefficient was highest (0.003–0.014) for leaves and lowest (0.001–0.002) for lateral roots. During the decomposition cycle (364 days), overall increase was reported in nitrogen and phosphorus concentration, while potassium concentration decreased continuously in residual litters. The nutrient mobility was in the order: K > P > N. Climatic factors like temperature, relative humidity and rainfall significantly affected the decomposition process and among these factors, rainfall pattern emerged as a most effective environmental driver. Thus, taking into account initial nutrient content, nutrient release and decay rates, the leaves and reproductive parts of C. nepalensis proved to be more important as nutrient source than other components.

Herb layer contributes significantly to the species diversity of forest ecosystem and reacts rapidly to changes in the soil characteristics. Composition, structural parameters and productivity of the herbaceous vegetation of five forest stands in the Central Himalaya of India, situated at Nainital district of Uttarakhand, India were investigated. At each site, 1 ha plot was established and herbaceous vegetation was analysed by placing 30 random quadrats of 50x50 cm at each site. To determine the soil moisture and soil nitrogen, soil samples were collected from each site and analysed in the laboratory. Results showed that chosen sites contrasted in terms of soil moisture, total soil nitrogen, herbaceous diversity, and biomass. In this study, 70 genera, 73 species from 31 families of herbs were recorded. Total number of herbaceous species recorded in the stands varied from 28 (Pines and Hanumangarhi) to 50 (Takula).Total individuals of all herb species were 110, 114,141, 164 and 188 plants m -2 in Rusi (RU), Hanumangarhi (HG), Pines (PI), Barapatthar (BP) and Takula (TA) forest stands, respectively. Index of similarity and species turnover ranged from 34.48 to 62.50 and 0.31 to 0.54 respectively. Herb density, diversity and biomass showed positive correlation with soil moisture and soil nitrogen. These findings suggested that the soil moisture and nitrogen enhanced the herbaceous diversity by ameliorating soil conditions. Herb species such as Bidens pilosa, Commelina benghalensis, Erigeron kavinskianus, Eupatorium adenophorum, Micromeria biflora, Oplismenus compositus, Oxalis corniculata, Strobilanthes angustifrons, Viola canescens, Vitis himalayana were most benefitted species because they were present across all the forest stands in high density where as herb species like Ajuga bracteosa, Anemone vitifolia, Arisaema tortuosum, Cassia occidentalis, Craniotome furcata, Dioscorea bupleuroides, Lepidagathis cristata, Sigesbeckia orientalis, Veronica beccabunga and Vicia villosa were the most affected species because they were recorded from among one of the forest stand and they are present in very low density. This study also demonstrated a straight relationship between herbaceous diversity and biomass indicating the significance of species diversity for ample generation of biomass in forest ecosystem.