Impacts of floods on forest trees and their coping strategies in Bangladesh

Abstract

a b s t r a c tDuring recent years, the Government of Bangladesh, Non-Government Organizations (NGOs), semigovernment organizations, private organizations and individuals have established a large number of plantations under different programs viz. social forestry, agro-forestry and avenue plantations with indigenous and exotic tree species without considering their habit and habitats. Along with the indigenous species like Albizia procera, Albizia lebbeck, Mangifera indica, Azadirachta indica, Gmelina arborea, Trewia nudiflora and Artocapus heterophyllus and many exotic species e.g. Swietenia macrophylla, Albizia saman, Dalbergia sissoo, Eucalyptus camaldulensis, Acacia auriculiformis, Melia sempervirens, Acacia mangium etc. have been planted randomly. With increasing trend of climate-induced floods, millions of trees have been dying due to floods and water-logging. The most affected species are Dalbergia sissoo, Albizia saman, Acacia auriculiformis, Acacia mangium and Artocarpus heterophyllus etc. This situation has caused severe impacts on socio-economic conditions of Bangladesh. The impacts involved a significant loss in terms of investment, biodiversity and afforestation program. Little investigations have been conducted to find out the causes of the deaths and also to find out the suitable adaptation practices to reduce impacts of floods on trees. This synthesis focused on the impacts of floods on plantations and also assessed the potential role of traditional forest management practices in addressing the effects flooding on forests in Bangladesh. The study added important information and revealed knowledge gaps on the causes of large forest deaths. It also provided recommendations for policy on the establishment of frequent floods resilient tree crop plantations.

The Influence of Dust and Black Carbon on Clouds, in Africa

“…In the course of remote sensing, the extinction is measured in terms of extinction coefficient [15].  The single scattering albedo (SSA): a dimensionless parameter ranging from zero to one, under normal conditions, which evaluates the ration between scattering and extinction in a way, the high albedo indicates either high scattering values or low absorption values [16]. The term albedo itself is the measure of diffusive reflection of solar radiation that is received by a remote sensed body or target.…”

The effect of supplemental irrigation from polyacrylamide-treated microcatchments on the growth of acacia saligna in dryland

“…Millions of acacia trees have been dying due to flooding and water-logging in Bangladesh. However, scant research has been conducted to identify the causes of tree deaths and to find suitable practices to reduce the impact of floods on trees (Basak et al 2015). On the other hand (Kaiser 1987;Okello et al 2001) show that increasing the supplemental irrigation level increases plant growth due to the increase in photosynthetic activity.…”

Sustainable Ecosystem Services Framework for Tropical Catchment Management: A Review

“…Floods are one of the most dangerous natural events that threaten most tropical countries in monsoon seasons [81,82,97]. Forests, via ecosystem services, can act as a natural hazard regulator, which is crucial in mitigating natural disasters and their impacts, particularly in the Asia Pacific region where they function as protection against natural disasters of various types and degrees [98,99], from minimal land degradation up to flood disaster [100][101][102]. All of these give a significant impact on the watershed area.…”

“…All of these give a significant impact on the watershed area. Although forests cannot directly reduce the total quantity of rainfall, they help by bringing down the degree of flood events and flood damage [4,98]. Furthermore, the presence of forests can improve infiltration, interception, and storage capacity of local lands.…”

“…Furthermore, the presence of forests can improve infiltration, interception, and storage capacity of local lands. Evapotranspiration carried out by trees within forests stabilizes soil moisture content, thus resulting in a substantial buffer against flooding when rainfall occurs [98]. Overall, the presence of forests can significantly reduce the sediment flow to rivers, reduce the frequency of floods and drought events, and lead to better ecosystem conditions [103].…”