Forestry Capsule Note for Entrance Exams of AFU, TU Entrance Exams of Nepal.

· Some important days celebrated:

World wetland Day	2nd Feb.
World Forest Ed. Day	21st March
World Fresh Water day	22d March
Earth day	22nd April
Soil Day	8th Aug.
World Food Day	16 Oct.
World Wild life Week	1-7 Oct
Nepal Wildlife Week	1-7 Baisakh
World Environment Day	5th June
International Biodiversity Day	22nd May
World Heritage Day	28th April

 

Major International Conventions and Organizations:

Name	Estd	Entry into force in nepal
Convention on biological diversity	1992	21 feb 1994
IUCN	1948
CITES	1973	16 SEPT 1975
WWF	1961	1967
RAMSAR	1971	1988
NTNC	1982
UNESCO	1972
NPWC	1973

Unit 2: Forest Mensuration

·         Forest mensuration is the branch of forestry which deals with the determination of dimensions i.e. Diameter, height, volume etc. , form, age and increment of single trees, stands or whole woods, either standing or after feeling.

·         Bias refers to the systematic errors that may results from faulty measurements procedures, instrumental errors, flaws in the sampling procedure, errors in the computations, mistake in recording and so on.

·         Diameter is a straight line passing through the center or sphere and meeting at each end of circumference or surface.

·         DBH (Diameter at Breast height) is defined as the average stem diameter outside bark, at a point 1.3m above ground.

·         A/c to FAO it is measured in 1.3m (4'3'') above ground level in Nepal and 1.37m (4'6") in India, Burma, and other countries.

·         Instruments used in measurement of diameter: Caliper, Diameter tape.

·         Tree height is the vertical distance measured from the ground surface.

·         Instruments used for measuring tree height are collectively k/a hypsometer. They are Christen's hypsometer (based on geometry principle) and Abney's level (based on trigonometry).

·         Bole height is the distance between ground level and crown point. Crown point is the position of first crown forming living or dead branches.

·         Commercial bole height: Height of bole that is usually fit for utilization as timber.

·         Stump height is the height of top of the stump above ground. It generally lies between 15 to 30 cm.

·         Crown height is the height of the crown as measured vertically from ground level to the point half way between the lowest green branch and the green branches forming green crown all round.

·         Crown length: Vertical measurement of the crown of tree from the tip to the point half way between the lowest green branches forming green crown all round and lowest green branch on bole.

·         Stumpage value: Sale value of standing timber.

·         Form is the rate of taper of a log or stem.

·         Taper is decrease in diameter of stem of a tree or of a log from base upward. 

·         The basal portion of tree corresponds to the frustum of Neiloid, the middle portion to the frustum of Paraboloid and the top portion ta a Cone.

·         Metzger's theory explains variations in taper from tree to tree and in the same tree as well. It assume that tree should be considered as a cantilever beam of uniform size against the bending force of the wind.

·         Form factor is the ratio of the volume of a tree or its parts to the volume of a cylinder having the same length and cross section as the tree.

·         For volume measurement, Newton's formula is the most accurate.

·         Quarter girth formula for volume calculation: (g/4)²×l(g= girth). It gives only 78.5% of tree volume.

·         In slope land, the height of tree is measured from uphill side. For leaning tree, the height of tree is measured from leaning side.

·         In ocular method height is estimated by eyes. Shadow method, single pole method and christen hypsometer for height measurements are based on principle of similar triangle.

·         Bark is the outer soft part of the stem.

·         Bark thickness is measured by bark gauge. K-D ratio is the ratio of crown diameter in meter to bole diameter (DBH). 

·         Form height=form factor× total height

·         Smalians formula=s_1*s₂/2*l, overestimates the volume

·         Hubers formula=Sm× l, underestimates the volume

·         Newtons formula= (s₁+4s_m+s₂)/6*l, is the most accurate formula.

·         Where S1, Sm, S2 are the diameters of thin end, middle and thick end respectively.

·         Quarter girth formula gives only 78.5% of total true circle volume of the tree. 21.5% is lost for round timbers.  For sawn square timbers, quarter girth formula gives 63.6% of the total volume while 36.6% volume is lost for square timber.

·         Individual piece of fuel wood is called billet.

·         A round plate upto 15 cm diameter can be used as blate.

·         A collection of fuel wood is called stack.

·         In Nepal, stack firewood is called Chatta. Having dimensions of 20× 5× 5 cubic ft. And volume of 500 cubic ft or 14.16 cubic meter

·         Volume table gives the average content of trees which varies with species and place.

·         Forest inventory is the procedure to give information on the quality, quantity and condition of forest resource associated vegetation and components as well as the land area.

·         Pressler’s formulae and compound interest formula gives the diameter as well as volume increment %.

·         CAI (current annual increment) is the increment that a tree puts in a year.

·         MAI (mean annual increment) is the mean increment that a tree puts from origin to death i.e it is total increment upto the age divided by the age.

·         MAI value is never 0 and non-negative unlike CAI.

·         The time at which CAI and MAI meet is called year of culmination and the most efficient or maximum volume producing period.

·         The cheapest means of transportation is water transportation.

 

Unit 3: Silviculture

·         Silviculture is the branch of forestry which deals with the establishment of, development, care and reproduction of the stand of the timber. It is defined as the art and science of cultivating forest crops.

·         Pure forest is the forest composed of almost entirely of one spps Usually to the extent of not less than 80%.

·         Mixed forest is the forest composed of trees of two or more spp. Intermingled in the same canopy in practical and by conventionat least 20% of the canopy must consost of species other than the principal one.

·         Veteran is the over mature tree of seed originating found in forest pf coppice origin.

·         Mycorrhiza is a structure produced from the combination of the modified rootlet with fungal tissue. It also acts as a source of N. Occurrence in ; Pinus, Picea, Abies, Cedrus texca, populous, salix,

·         Phenology : deals with the time of appearance of characteristics periodic events.

·         Pollination:

a.      Wind(anemophily) : Conifers,Betula,Alnus, Juglans

b.      Birds (zoophily) : Bombax, Butea, Erythrina, Athocephalus, Kadam, oroxylum by bat

c.       Insect (entomophily): Sal ,Sisau, Teak

·         Etiolation is acondition in which plamnts become pale yellow and have long thin interodes due to absence of light.

·         Plant succession : The gradual replacement of one community by another in the development of vegetation towards a climax.

·         Seres : the plant communities included in the succession before the climax is reached are called seres.

·         Types of succession;

a.      On the basis of moisture conditions of that place

i.                    Xerarch

ii.                  HYdrarch

b.      On the basis of presence or absence of vegetation in that place

i.                    Primary succession( autogenic succession)

ii.                  Secondary succession( alogenic succession)

·         Retreogessionor regression is defined as as the reversion of some earlier stages of succession consequent on the introduction of an adverse factor.

·         Causes of succession:

A.Initial causes:

Primary;

1.      Erosion

2.      Physiography or topography

3.      Elevation and subsidence

               Secondary causes:

1.      Climate

2.      Physiography

3.      Biotic factors

                B. Continuing causes:

1.      Migration

2.      Ecesis or establishment

3.      Grouping or aggregation

4.      Competition

5.      Reaction

·         Climax : climax is the culmination stage of plant succession for a given environment. In this vegetation is in equilibrium with environment and stays unchanged indefinitely by reproducting itself. Most dominating community forming fctor is climate and smetimems it is also called climatic climax.

·         Shelterwood system is the systemin which the mmature crop is removed in a series of operation the first of which is the seedling felling and the last is final felling it is also  successive regeneration felling.

 

 

Unit 4  Ecotourism and recreation

·         It is travel and visitation to relatively undisturbed natural areas, in order to enjoy and appreciate nature. It emphasis on natural rather than cultural attractions.

·         Modern Tourism started in Nepal since 1951, after Rana rule was thrown away.

·         Nepal Tourism Development committee estd. in 1970.

·         Ministry of Tourism was established in 1977.

·         Tourists visiting Nepal is high for Trekking and Mountaineering.

·         Trekking is concentrated in 3 areas: Annapurna, Sagarmatha and Langtang NP.

·         Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) was eatd. In 1977 under Nepal Tourism Act, 1996.

·         Visit Nepal year 1998,Destination Nepal 2002, Visit POkhara 2007, Nepal Toursm year 2011, VisitLumbini year 2012

·         ACE tourism; adventure culture and ecotourism

Unit 5  Community Forestry Agroforestry

·         Agroforestry can be defined as a practice of raising tree and agricultural crops in a given space and time.

·         Two types of agro forestry systems ; farm based and forestry based

·         Intercropping with horticultural crops is more prevalent in the terai region.

·         Taungya was started in 1972 in Tamagadhi amd practiced only in terai.

·         In taungya species are planted at 2m *4m

·         Citronella winterificans has been successfully introduced under sisso in terai.

·         Community Forest  can be defined as a forest protected , managed , and utilized by FUG.

·         Shifting cultivation is practiced in middle and high mountains.

·         Alley cropping is synonymous of Hedge row intercropping.

·         Silvo-pastoral system also serves as fodder bank.

·         Shelter belts are several rows of trees to reduce the velocity of prevailing wind.

·         Wind-break are the stripes of trees and shrubs planted to protect fields, homes, or other areas from wind and blowing oil or sand.

·         Planting of exotic tree species for agro forestry purpose is more common in terai & middle mountain.

·         The selection of species is based on the need of farm house hold & end use of the product.

·         Common use species for the green manure : Gliricidia sepium, Leucaena leucocephala, Sesbania species (rostata, grandifolia, sesban), Acacia albida etc.

·         No. of CF is 22,266.

·         Area covered by CF is 2,237,670.524 ha.

·         No. of house hold benefited by CF is 2,907,871.

· Pedology: It is the study of the soil as the natural body and does not focus primarily on the soil immediate practical use.

· Edhaphology: It is the science that deals with the influence of soils on living things, particularly plants including mans.

· Soil texture, soil structure, and porosity are important physical properties of soil.

· Soil structure: the arrangement of individual soil particles into aggregate of definite shape and size.

· Soil porosity: the extent to which the gross volume of soil is unoccupied by solid particles.

· Buffering capacity is the ability of soil to resist changes in pH. Commonly determined by presence of clay humus and other colloidal materials.

· Abrasion is the stretching of bed rocks by load carried by running water. Corrasion is the erosion of earth surfaceby rock material being carried over it by water ice etc.

· Watershed is sometimes called a catchments area a drainage basin or a river basin.

· Precipitation is measured either in mm or cm or in inches.

· The standard 8-inch non –recording gauge is used for measuring the amount of precipitation.

· Infiltration is the flow of water through the earthe surface. It is lateral movement.

· Percolation; downward movement of water through soil profile.

· Evaporation

· Transpiration

· Evapotranspiration

· Lysimeters measure evapotranspiration

· The major agents of erosion;

· A. water D. gravity

B. wind E. human activities

C . glaciers

Unit 8 Survey

· Survey is the art of determining relative position of points above or beneath the surface of earth.

· Two types of survey

· Plane survey: it is that type of survey in which the spheroidal surface of the earth is neglected or taken as plane.

· Geodetic survey: spheroidal surface is taken into account.

· Plane survey: error of 1cm in 12 km.

· Error of 195 sq km in 1 sec.

Leveling: Is the branch of survey which is used to determine the elevation of points from a given datum and to establish points at a given elevation or at different elevations with reference to a given or assumed datum.

· 1 mile equals to 1603m

· 1 nautical mile equals to 1852m

· 1 hac= 10000m2 ; 1 hac=20 ropani

· Plan scale is large because it covers less area.

· Map scale is small because it covers large area.

· Scale is the fixed ratio that every distance from the plan bears with corresponding distance in the ground.

· Types of scale:

· a. Numerical scale b.Engineers scale c.Representative fraction: has no unit.d.Graphical scale e. Shrinkage factor f. Diagonal scale: measures three dimensions i.e. length, breadth, height. g. Vernier scale: only 1 dimensionsh.Scale of chord: angle measurement.

· Accuracy: degree of perfection obtained.

· Precision: degree of perfection obtained by used instrument.

· Best surveyor is the man who does the work in allocated time and money.

Chain surveying: length measurement with the help of chain, used for small area, most accurate survey, it is also called taping.

· Invar tape is the most accurate tape containing 36% nickel, Note: nickel decreases tension of the tape.

Compass survey: it is used to measure direction used for large area and obstacle free area, it requires tape, chain, and compass.

· Sextant and Theodolite survey: it measures angle.

· R.F. stands for representative fraction.

· Engineers chain equals to 100ft. It contains 100 links with brass tags fastened at 10 links. 1 link equals to 1 ft.

· Gunter’s chain equals to 66ft. It consists of 100 links. 1 link equals to 0.6ft or 7.92 inch.

· Revenue chain equals to 33ft. Consists of 16 links. 1 link equals to 2.0625ft. mainly used for cadastral survey.

The difference between a measurement and the true value of the quantity measured is the true error of the measurement. A discrepancy is the difference between two measured value of same quantity. It is not an error

· Sources of error.

a. Instrumental b. Personal c. Natural

· Kinds of errors,

· a. Mistakes b. Systematic errors (cumulative error) c. Accidental errors (compensating error)

· G.I.S stands for Geographic Information System.

· Contour: it is the imaginary line to join points of equal elevation.

· Line forming a contour is called contour line.

· The difference of contour line is called contour interval.

· Contour line shows steep slope when spaced closely.

· When the distance is more, plane contours are formed. Two contour lines never intersect each other under normal conditions, they do so over hanging cliff and cave Also in case of a vertical cliff.

· The angle of reduced bearing (R.B) is less than or equal to 90°, and direction should also be shown.

· In whole circle bearing (W.C.B) the direction is not necessary to be shown.

· Open traverse is suitable for surveying road.

· Close traverse is suitable for surveying lakes forest area.

· When any line lies in the north-west quadrant then R.B.=360o-W.C.B

· Contour is an imaginary line on the ground joining the points of equal elevation.

· Contour interval is the vertical distance between any two consecutive contours.

· Contour line is aline on the ma representing a contour

· Plane table is a method of surveying the peculiar feature of which is that the field observations measurement and plotting proceed simultaneously.

· It is exyensively used for small mapping, topographic and engineering surveys, fire maps.

Some common disease name amd patohogen on forest crops;

· Sal( Shorea robusta); a.Root disease and Butt rot disease

b. Heart rot disease

· Dalbergia sissoo: wilt disease and root rots disease

· Acacia catechu: Ganoderma root rotand heart rot disease

· Teak(Tectona grandis): Bacterial wilt and Armillaria root rot



Some plants and their scientific names

Plants	Scientific name
Khair	Acacia catechu
Karma	Adina cardifolia
Seto siris	Albizia procera
Rato siris	Albizia julibrission
Kalo siris	Albizia lebbek
Neem	Azadirachta indica
Palas	Butea monosperma
Lapsi	Choerospondias axillaries
Devdar	Cedrus deodara
Masala	Eucalyptus camuldulensis

Some banned species for export on crude form

Jatamashi	Nardostachys grandiflora
Sarpagandha	Rawolfia serpintina
Sugandha kokila	Cinamonum glausescens
Talis patra	Abies spectabilis
Lauth salla	Taxus bucata
Silajit	Rox exudate
Yarsha gumba	Cordyceps sinensis

 

· Birds:

Common name	Scientific Name	Nepali Name
Great Horabill	Buceros bicornis	Thulo Dhanesh
Impeyan Pheasant	Lophophorus impejanus	Danphe
Black Stork	Ciconia nigra	Kalo Stork
Crimson-horned Pheasant	Tragopan satyra	Munal
Lesser Florican	Sypheotides indica	Mujur
Saurus Crane	Grus antigone antogone	Sars

 

 

·         MAMMALS

Common name	Scientific Name	Nepali Name
Red Panda	Ailurus fulgens	Habre
Snow Leopard	Panthera uncia	Hiu Chituwa
Royal Bengal Tiger	Panthera tigris	Bhagh
One horned Rhinoceros	Rhinoceros unicornis	Gaida
Himalayan Musk Deer	Moschus chrysogaster leucogaster	Kasturi Mriga
Dolphin	Delphinus Delphis	Sons
Swamp Deer	Rucervus duvaucelii	Barahsigae
Asiatic Elephant	Elephas maximus	Jungali Hatti