Plant diversity of Betel Leaf Agroforestry of South Meghalaya, Northeast India

Abstract

Tynsong H, Tiwari BK, Dkhar M. 2018. Plant diversity of Betel Leaf Agroforestry of South Meghalaya, Northeast India. Asian J For 2: 1-11. Large areas of lowland tropical forests of South Meghalaya have been converted into betel leaf agroforestry systems by the tribal people living in the area. The betel leaf agroforestry with diverse and structurally complex shade canopies conserve a significant portion of the original forest biodiversity. The impact of land use change on the biodiversity was studied using standard vegetation analysis and biodiversity estimation methods. A total of 160 plant species were recorded in natural forests out of which 75 were trees, 40 shrubs, and 45 herbs, while in betel leaf agroforestry, a total of 159 plant species, 94 trees, 17 shrubs and 48 herbs were recorded. A total of 34 tree species, 13 shrub species, and 14 herb species were common in both the land uses. All the plant species were native species. The study revealed that the conversion of natural forest to betel leaf agroforestry in South Meghalaya has no significant impact on tree and herb diversity. However, the basal area and density are affected to some extent. The land use change has also affected the density and diversity of shrubs. The study concludes that betel leaf agroforestry in South Meghalaya developed by the indigenous War Khasi tribe through experiential learning over several generations has emerged as a fairly sustainable agroforestry system causing minimal impact on plant diversity.

A Study on the Effect of Storage of Betel Leaves at Ambient Temperature

“…For the diffusion channel T 3 the peak CO 2 levels inside the storage container were 3.60 per cent after 14 days of storage. These results are in agreement with the findings of Tynsong [9], who reported that the rate of CO 2 increases with the progress of storage period.…”

Review artitle Review: Traditional ecological knowledge of tribal communities of North East India

“…Understanding the TEK of indigenous people in the resource management system is essential for sustainable natural resource management. Many studies also suggest that TEK is increasingly seen more as an efficient and practical tool for forest management by involving the local communities (Khumbongmayum et al 2005;Tiwari et al 2010;Tynsong et al 2017;Singh et al 2017). TEK in the traditional forest management system of indigenous people is rooted in their cultures, norms and belief systems practiced by such communities.…”

“…As such one may come across the concept of sacred groove, sacred sites, sacred forests or trees, etc. which not only conforms to their religious faith and practices but also promotes sustainable development by way of conservation of flora and fauna (Tiwari 2000;Dhar et al 2000;Kala 2005a;Tiwari et al 2017), healthcare (Rao 1981;Dolui et al 2004;Tynsong et al 2006), fisheries (Mahapatra et al 2004;Tynsong and Tiwari 2008), forest management (Tiwari et al 2010;Tynsong et al 2017), pest management (Umdor 2004;Deka et al 2006;Bhattacharjee and Ray 2010), traditional bird trapping (Acharya et al 2009;, traditional agriculture (Jeeva et al 2006;Tiwari 2007;Upadhaya et al 2020), ethnic food (Singh et al 2007;Sohliya et al 2009) traditional crafts (Jha et al 2014;Pradhan 2019), traditional dye (Akimpou et al 2005;Mahanta and Tiwari 2005;Kar and Borthakur 2008) and hence are on the verge of being lost.…”

“…Further, in Meghalaya, large areas of lowland tropical forests have been converted into betel leaf agroforestry systems (Tynsong et al 2017) and areca nut agroforestry systems by the tribal people living in the area. The study on betel leaf agroforestry systems by Tynsong et al (2017) reveals that it is diverse and structurally complex shade canopies and conserves a significant part of the original forest biodiversity. Local folks through experiential learning over many generations have developed betel leaf agroforestry systems that have emerged as a reasonably sustainable agroforestry system inflicting stripped impact on plant diversity.…”

“…In literature there exist a number of terms and frameworks for community-based knowledge, such as Indigenous Knowledge (IK), Traditional Knowledge (TK), Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK), and Local Traditional Knowledge (LTK). All these terms have been used to refer to the sources of knowledge about species, ecosystems, or practices held by people whose lives are closely linked to their natural environment (Berkes 1999; Davis and Ruddle 2010;Donogue et al 2010;Singh et al 2017;Tiwari et al 2017;Tynsong et al 2017). Rist et al (2010) preferred to use the term TEK because it has predominant usage among conservationists and resource managers and is not restricted in application to indigenous peoples alone.…”