• Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.817-819
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• 2003

Land degradation is a crucial issue in mountainous areas and is manifested in a variety of processes. For its assessment, application of existing models is not straightforward. In addition, data availability might be a problem. In this paper, a procedure for land degradation assessment is described, which follows a four-step approach: (1) detection, inventory and mapping of land degradation features, (2) assessing the magnitude of soil loss, (3) study of causal factors, and (4) hazard assessment by applying decision trees. This approach is applied to a case study in the Middle Mountain region of Nepal. The study shows that individual mass movement features such as debris slides and slumps can be easily mapped by photo interpretation techniques. Application of soil loss estimation models helps get insight on the magnitude of soil losses. In the study area soil losses are higher in rainfed crops on sloping terraces (highest soil loss is 32 tons/ha/yr) and minimal under dense forest and in irrigated rice fields (less than 1 ton/ha/yr). However there is high frequency of slope failures in the form of slumps in the rice fields. Debris slides are more common on south-facing slopes under rainfed agriculture or in degraded forest. Field evidences and analysis of causal factors for land degradation helps in building decision trees, the use of which for modelling land degradation has the advantage that attributes can be ranked and tested according to their importance. In addition, decision trees are simple to construct, easy to implement and very flexible in adaptations.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.18-23
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• 2018

A new naturally occurring benzoic acid derivative, benzyl 2,4-di(benzyloxy)benzoate (1) and six known compounds (2-7) were isolated from the fungus, Preussia sp. found in frozen soil of the Himalaya Mountain. The structures of the new compound, together with the known compounds were determined by 1D-and 2D-NMR experiments, as well as comparison with published values. In addition, to the best of our knowledge, the known compounds 2-7 were isolated for the first time from the genus Preussia and the family Sporormiaceae. The isolates were evaluated for cancer chemopreventive potential based on their ability to inhibit nitric oxide (NO) production induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in mouse macrophage RAW 264.7 cells in vitro. Compounds 1 and 2 inhibited NO production by 50.7% and 88.5% at a concentration of 100 mg/ml, respectively.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.435-450
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• 2018

Phenological events of four Rhododendron tree species (viz. R. arboreum, R. arboreum ssp. delavayi var. delavayi, R. barbatum and R. kesangiae) was monitored in temperate mixed broad-leaved forests of Arunachal Pradesh, India. Phenological events like flower bud formation, flowering, fruit setting, fruit maturing, seed dispersal, leaf bud formation, leaf flushing, and leaf shedding were recorded. Indices i.e., phenophase sequence index (PSI), active phenophasic period of the species (APS) and index of reproductive/vegetative activity (RVA) were also calculated. Present study revealed that bark consistency, growth form and leaf pattern of the studied species have showed variations among the species. Rhododendron species exhibited the phenological events overlapping with other phenophases. The peak flower bud formation was observed during the winter; R. arboreum ssp. delavayi var. delavayi start flowering from December, while the flowering in rest three species exhibited during February to April. Fruit setting occurred during summer to autumn while fruit maturation revealed peak during November. Leaf bud formation illustrated two peaks in April and May, leaf flushing exhibited peak in June, while leaf shedding peaked during October to November. Active phenophasic period of the species were found 12 months, which revealed that species engage in various phenophase activities throughout the year. Phenophase sequence index ranged between 0.8 to 0.9 (PSI ${\geq}0.6$), signifies that species have a sequential arrangement of phenophases. Index of reproductive/vegetative activity of the species exemplified >1, indicate that the reproductive phenophases were dominance over vegetative phenophases. The study have provided substantial insight on the life cycle events of Rhododendron species and ecological approaches for further scientific study with recent climate change and effective management and conservation.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.13-19
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• 2023

We investigated Soil respiration in Bluepine forest of western Bhutan, in relation to soil temperature, moisture content and soil pH and it was aimed at establishing variability in space and time. The Bluepine forest thrives in the typical shallow dry valleys in the inter-montane Bhutan Himalaya, which is formed by ascending wind from the valley bottom, which carries moisture from the river away to the mountain ridges. Stratified random sampling was applied and the study site was classified into top, mid, low slope and further randomized sample of n=20 from 30 m×30 m from each altitude. The overall soil respiration mean for the forest was found 2248.17 CO₂ g yr^-1 and it is ~613.58 C g yr^-1. The RS from three sites showed a marginal variation amongst sites, lower slope (2,309 m) was 4.64 μ mol m^-2 s^-1, mid slope (2,631 m) was 6.78 μ mol m^-2 s^-1 and top slope (3,027 m) was 6.33 μ mol m^-2 s^-1 and mean of 5.92 μ mol m^-2 s^-1, SE=0.25 for the forest. Temporal distribution and variations were observed more pronounced than in the space variation. Soil respiration was found highest during March and lowest in September. Soil temperature had almost inverse trend against soil respiration and dropped a low in February and peak in July. The moisture in the soil changed across months with precipitation and pH remained almost consistent across the period. The soil respiration and soil temperature had significant relationship R²=-0.61, p=0.027 and other variables were found insignificant. Similar relationship are reported for dry season in a tropical forest soil respiration. Soil temperature was found to have most pronounced effect on the soil respiration of the forest under study.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.36 no.3 s.134
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• pp.495-505
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• 2003

Convective weather systems such as organized mesoscale convective systems (Mesoscale Convective Complex, MCC and Convective Cloud Clusters, CCC) and much weaker Disorganized Short-lived Convection (DSC) in the region of India and Nepal were analyzed using the Meteosat-5 IR imagery. The diurnal march and propagation of patterns of convective activity in the Himalayas and Northern Indian subcontinent were examined. Results indicate that infrared satellite images of Northern India and along the southern flank of the Himalayas reveal a strong presence of convective weather systems during the 1999 and 2000 monsoons, especially in the afternoon and during the night. The typical MCCs have life-times of about 11 hours, and areal extent about $300,000km^2$. Although the core of MCC activity remains generally away from the Middle Himalayan range, the occurrence of heavy precipitation events in this region can be directly linked to MCCs that venture into the Lesser Himalayan region and remain within the region bounded by $25^{\circ}-30^{\circ}N$. One principal feature in the spatial organization of convection is the dichotomy between the Tibetan Plateau and the Northern Indian Plains: CCCs and DSCs begin in the Tibetan Plateau in the mid-afternoon into the evening; while they are most active in the mid-night and early morning in the Gangetic Plains and along the southern facing flanks of the Himalayas. Furthermore, these data are consistent with the daily cycle of rainfall documented for a network of 20 hydrometeorological stations in Central Nepal, which show strong nocturnal peaks of intense rainfall consistent with the close presence of Convective Weather Systems (CWSs) in the Gangetic Plains (Barros et al. 2000).

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.202-225
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• 2017

Non Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) has gained a lot of significance over the years as a means of income generation. Forests are playing a vital role in the supply of these products, however, due to their continuous extraction, the population of many species might have depleted. Very little information is known about community structure and population status of NTFPs. No specific studies have been made to find out the occurrence, availability of species and population status in the forests, supplying the resources. The present study has been carried out in community forests of the naturally occurring NTFPs in the temperate forest of the Ziro valley of Arunachal Pradesh. The main aim is to determine community structure, species composition and population status of NTFPs. Three forest stands viz., Nyilii, Dura and Gyachi were selected which are used by the Apatani tribe for extraction of the NTFPs. For evaluation of species composition and community characteristics, the sampling of the vegetation was done using the quadrat method. A total 137 species representing 68 families and 116 genera were recorded. Herbs represent the maximum diversity with 71 species followed by 35 shrub species and 31 tree species. The families Asteraceae and Rosaceaeae exhibited maximum representation followed by Urticaceae. The species under Fagaceae, Lauraceae, Rosaceae and Rutaceae were found to be important NTFP yielding species. Highest species richness was recorded in Nyilii having 124 species, while lowest in Dura with 102 species. Density of tree, shrub and herb ranged between 376 to $456\;individuals\;ha^{-1}$, 2848 to $3696\;individuals\;ha^{-1}$ and 31.44 to $36.64\;individuals\;m^{-2}$, respectively. The total basal area was found to be highest ($51.64m^2\;ha^{-1}$) in Dura followed by Nyilii ($25.32m^2\;ha^{-1}$) and lowest in Gyachi ($22.82m^2\;ha^{-1}$). In all the three study stands the species diversity indices showed the trend, herbs > shrubs > trees while the evenness index showed the trend as shrubs > herbs > trees. The overall species similarity index was highest (82.35%) between Dura and Gyachi. About 80% of the total recorded species showed clumped distribution while, no regular distribution was shown by any species. The three selected stands harbor about 50 important NTFP yielding species which are being used commonly by the Apatani people in their day to day life. Among the three study sites, overall diversity of NTFP was found highest in the Nyilii stand while the density of population was found better in Dura and Gyachi stands. The population of many species was found to be low due to continue harvesting without any sustainable management by the communities. All the selected forest stands have the potentiality to grow the high value NTFP yielding species and if managed properly, they can support the livelihood and economy of the local communities.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.32-40
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• 2008

In this study, we monitor ice cap using calculated NDSI from September to December in 2001, 2003, 2006, 2007 and snow cover area in 2007 decrease by compare with 2001. Global warming is one of the most important issue in this world. Because global-warming is the reason of various meteorological disasters and extreme weather events in these days and snow and glaciers showed that global warming effect most easily. Snow and glaciers play an important role in Earth cooling system because of their high reflectance. The present study has been carried out monitoring ice cap in Himalayas, using MODIS(Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer)data. Indicator to monitoring ice cap, NDSI(Normalized Differenced Snow Index) was used in this study. The NDSI is a spectral band ratio that takes advantage of the spectral differences of snow in visible and short-wave infrared domain to detect snow cover area versus non-snow cover area in a scene. This study is quantitative evaluation about effect of global warming for icecap.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.42 no.2 s.119
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• pp.165-176
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• 2007

Absolute age of the deposition of 1.3 km-thick Bunthang sequence within the Skardu intermontane basin of the Central Karakoram was determined using radioactive decay of cosmogonic $^{10}Be$ and $^{26}Al$ burial dating. The Bunthang sequence deposited around 2.65 Ma, which is the oldest glaciation in the region. The timing of deposition of the Bunthang sequence is consistent with the previous suggestion that the basin filling took place between Brunhess and Matuyama chrons. Four major sedimentary facies interfinger within the Bunthang sequence: glacial diamict, lacustrine, fluvial and lacustrine facies upward. This sedimentary distinctiveness and the lack of evidence on the faults for alternative pull-apart basin model around the Bunthang sequence, suggest that the depressional basin was formed by deep subglacial erosion during the exrtensive Bunthang Glacial Stage and subsequently the sediments underlain by basal diamict, was quickly deposited by preglacial and paraglacial processes. Temporary ponding of the Indus River due to tectonic uplift in the downstream or blockage by mass movements might make the basin filing more possible. The hypothesis that the single ice sheet developed on the Tibetan Plateau during the global last glacial cycle should be refuted by the existence of the older extensive Bunthang glacier Furthermore, the extensive glaciation during the early Quaternary (and thus progressive decrease in extent with time) suggests that there may have been significant uplift of the Pamir to the west and Himalaya to the south, which would have reduced the penetration of westerlies and Indian summer monsoon and hence moisture supply to the region.

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.79-91
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• 2008

Asplenium yoshinagae (Aspleniaceae), previously known only from Japan, southwest China to Himalaya, was found in Gageo-do, Heuksan-myeon, Sinan-gun, Jeollanam-do. This species is similar to A. trichomonas, A. tripteropus, A. boreale, A. normale and A. oligophlebium by having gemmae and auricle of pinna, and distinguished from the latters by distinct stipe length, stalk of pinna, acute apex of pinna, length of indusium and shape of sorus. The Local name, Ga-geo-kko-ri-go-sa-ri, was newly given considering the locality. To reveal the interspecific relationships within the genus Asplenium in Korea, cladistic analysis was performed for 22 taxa of Asplenium as ingroup and 2 taxa of Diplazium as outgroup from Korea based on 20 morphological characters. As the results, the genus Asplenium seperated strongly from outgroup, and divided into 4 clades. Asplenium yoshinagae belong to the third clade. A. hondoense N. Murtakami & S. I. Hatanaka, which contained in the second clade, had treated as Hymenasplenium, but this results supported that this taxon may be contained in Asplenium, and also, Asplenium ruprechtii, not in Comptosorus. The morphological characters and illustrations of the species are provided together with photographs of habitat.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Navigation and Port Research Conference
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• v.1
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• pp.401-405
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• 2006

A uniform velocity field of crust can be obtained by cumulative multi-year GPS data. Then the shortening and sliding of drape zones between Chinese Continent Blocks can be researched through the velocity field and dynamics meaning is also analyzed. A model of movement and strain is created to extract displacing and rotating information of blocks in this paper. On the basis of it, the shortening vectors and sliding states of drape zones between blocks can be obtained by the model of level center of gravity moving velocity vectors between neighboring blocks. Some result show as follows. India plate jostles greatly toward north, so a complicated movement situation is formed for 14 sub-blocks. And self-deformations of inner tectosomes can be greatly reflected according to the characteristics of drape zones between tectosomes. The extrusion deformation exists between Himalaya and Qiangtang blocks. Its contraction ratio is about 20.1 $mm.a^{-1}$. However, it only is $mm.a^{-1}$ between Tarim and Zhungar. The deformation characteristics and contraction ratio of other drape zones are obviously different with the former. The movement characteristics of contraction, shear, dislocation, etc. are showed in these zones. The average contraction ratio is about 5.0 $mm.a^{-1}$. The whole trend in the west continent has a big movement toward north, and in the east continent has a small movement toward south or southeast. The strain of west continent is far bigger than that of east, and the strain of southwest is bigger than that of the southeast. It is whole showed that India plate jostles toward north-east and the south-north zone has cutting and absorbing phenomena. The total characteristics and present-day trends of deformation of inland drape zones are basically described by the sinistrorse dislocation in south-north zone and Arjin fracture, the sinistrorse shear between south china and north china, etc.