Extraction of non-timber forest products in the forests of Biligiri Rangan Hills, India. 2. Impact of NTFP extraction on regeneration, population structure, and species composition

Regional Variation in Non-Timber Forest Product Harvest Strategies, Trade, and Ecological Impacts: the Case of Black Dammar (Canarium strictum Roxb.) Use and Conservation in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, India

“…For both tapping strategies, we observed that the rate of recovery is higher with smaller incisions, but we were unable to test this statistically as we did not know the exact age of all incisions. (Murali et al 1996, Muraleedharan et al 2005, and one of thousands of NTFP on which local populations worldwide depend (Vedeld et al 2004). Our research illustrates the large variation in collection strategies and trade of C. strictum harvest within the NBR, and sheds light on some of the social, ecological, and economic factors that can influence the potential for sustainable harvest of this and other NTFP.…”

“…Indeed, despite the dependence of millions of people on the collection of NTFP species in India, and of the wide diversity of species harvested, to date there is still little research on harvest patterns and trade of Indian NTFP and their ecological impacts. The few studies that have been done have illustrated that some types of harvest have negatively affected the structure and dynamics of populations (Murali et al 1996, Kala 2000, Sinha and Bawa 2002, Sinha and Brault 2005, Muraleedharan et al 2005) and led to changes in plant communities (Murali et al 1996, Ganeshaiah et al 1998. These findings point to the great need for more work in this area, especially for those wild-harvested NTFP such as C. strictum, whose populations are reported to be declining.…”

Spatial Patterns of Phytodiversity - Assessing Vegetation Using (Dis) Similarity Measures

“…Such species diversity pattern may diminish as a function of altitude (Lieberman et al, 1996). The mean stand density of 409 stems ha -1 and range of 307 to 525 stems ha -1 in the tropical forests of northern Andhra Pradesh is well within the range of 276 -905 stems ha -1 reported for trees ≥10cm gbh in the tropics (Ghate et al, 1998;Sundarapandian & Swamy, 1997;Sukumar et al, 1997& Murali et al, 1996. This range of stand density in the present study is comparable with the other Eastern Ghats sites (Shervarayan hills -Kadavul & Parthasarathy, 1999a;Kalrayan hills -Kadavul & Parthasarathy, 1999b;Coromandel coast -Parthasarathy & Sethi, 1997).…”

Complex relationships among gender and forest food harvesting: insights from the Bribri Indigenous Territory, Costa Rica

“…In fact very few of the research designs we evaluated directly measure ecosystem effects. While Murali et al (1996) attempted such measurement in the Biligiri Rangan Hills of India, they could not definitively separate commercial extraction from other influences on the forest ecosystem. NTFP species showed a greater deficit of small size classes than the timber forest species, suggesting that regeneration is affected by collection of seeds and fruits from NTFP species.…”

“…These are most useful in research concerning NTFPs from trees, such as sap, nuts or fruit, where a sample of individuals can be selected and monitored over time. Some studies rely on ecological field methods to obtain baseline data on resource abundance and then use models or other estimates to project the potential for commercial harvesting (Peters 1992;FitzGibbon et al 1995;Murali et al 1996;Pedersen 1996). Finally, a few studies with primarily ecological objectives rely solely on social science methods such as market surveys, questionnaires, and interviews (e.g.…”