Earticle

Microwave assisted biodiesel production from crude Pongamia pinnata oil using homogeneous base catalyst (KOH) was unsuccessful because of considerable soap formation. Therefore, a two step process of biodiesel production from high free fatty acid (FFA) oil was investigated. In first step, crude P. pinnata oil was acid catalyzed using H2SO4 and acid value of oil was reduced to less than 4 mg KOH/g. Effect of sulfuric acid concentration, alcohol-oil molar ratio and microwave irradiation time on acid value of oil was studied. Result suggested that 1.5% H2SO4 (w/w), 6：1 methanol oil molar ratio and 3 min microwave irradiation time was sufficient to reduce the acid value of oil from 12 and 22 mg KOH/g to 2.9 and 3.9 mg/KOH/g, respectively. Oil obtained after pretreatment was subsequently used for microwave assisted alkali catalyzed transesterification. A higher biodiesel yield (99.0%) was achieved by adopting two step processes. Microwave energy efficiency during alkali catalyzed transesterification was also investigated. The results suggested a significant energy saving because of reduced reaction time under microwave heating.

Forest disturbance sometime considered as a tool of management as it believed that mid level disturbance constructs better micro-climatic conditions which ultimately boost up the plant diversity. The effect of different levels of disturbance on species composition and regeneration is very important. Present attempt was carried out in a temperate evergreen oak forest which was under various degree of disturbance. The study area is one of the large ranges of oak forest in Garhwal Himalaya and compensating various types of daily needs of local people. On the basis of IVI values Quercus leucotrichophora holds first position in all the disturbance zones whereas Myrica esculenta upgraded it’s rank in highly disturbed zone and showed less impacted species by disturbance. Berberis aristata and Eupatorium adenophorum in shrub layer and Anaphalis adnata and Bidens pilosa in herb layer were found as disturbance friendly species because they attained higher rank in highly disturbed zone whereas Caryopteris foetida was found disturbance-sensitive in shrub layer. The banj oak regenerated well under mid disturbance as compared to no and high degree of disturbance and a sharp downfall in the species diversity was recorded with increasing magnitude of disturbance. Density-diameter curves showed a reverse trend of lower density in higher girth classes. The results of the study should be useful for the forest management strategies.

In this study, we investigated the effects of three land uses on soil properties in two soil layers; surface soil (0∼15 cm) and subsoil (15∼30 cm). Soil samples were collected from planted forest, barren lands and cultivated lands from different areas in Chittagong Cox’s Bazar and analyzed for some physical and chemical properties. Results showed that soil textural class varied from sandy clay loam in planted forest and barren land site to sandy loam in cultivated soils. Maximum water holding capacity was higher in forest followed by barren land and the lowest in cultivated lands. At both soil depths, soils of cultivated land showed the highest values of bulk density (1.42 to 1.50 g cm-3), followed by barren lands (1.37 to 1.46 g cm-3) and the least (1.32 to 1.45 g cm-3) in forest soils. Total porosity decreased with depth ranging from 40.24% to 41.53% in subsoils and from 42.04 to 43.23% in surface soil of cultivated and of planted forest sites respectively. The result further revealed that organic carbon (OC) and total nitrogen (TN) contents were higher in the planted forest soil than in other two land uses. The soils of all land uses under study are acidic in nature and the lowest pH was found in both surface and subsoils of barren land. Cultivated soil contained the highest amount of available P, Ca, Mg and K in both surface soil and subsoils. In contrast, barren site had the lowest contents of available P, Ca, Mg and K in both layers. The soil organic carbon (SOC) and total N storage were higher in planted forest than in barren and cultivated land uses.

Non-timber forest products are important component of subsistence and livelihood of tribal communities living in and near forests. This is of particular significance in the state of Arunachal Pradesh having more than 80% of geographical area under forest cover and predominantly inhabited by tribal people. Purpose of this study was to document the status and utilization pattern and to assess the economic value of NTFPs of the state. Present study was carried out in eight districts of Arunachal Pradesh viz., Changlang, East Kameng, Lower Subansiri, Tawang, Tirap, Upper Siang, West Kameng and West Siang covering 34 villages and 350 households. Altogether, 135 plant based and 36 animal based non-timber forest products were recorded. Among plant based NTFPs, 54 species were collected for leaves, 30 for stem and 22 for fruits. Most of the animal based NTFPs (93%) were collected/hunted for food. Average 20∼40 kg of NTFPs was collected annually per household. Maximum plant based NTFP collection was recorded from West Siang followed by West Kameng and Tawang. Similarly, highest collection of animal based NTFPs was recorded from West Siang followed by Tirap and Lower Subansiri. NTFP contributed more than 50% of annual income of the people of East Kameng, Tirap, Lower Subansiri and Upper Siang districts. An illiterate and unemployed person with minimum agricultural land was more dependent on forests for his livelihood than a literate jobholder. The study concludes that a large section of people of Arunachal Pradesh are dependent on NTFPs for their livelihood however due to its unscientific harvesting, the availability of NTFPs is receding with time. There is an urgent need to promote cultivation and scientific harvesting of NTFPs in order to conserve the plant and animal diversity of this global biodiversity hotspot and for ensuring livelihood security of the people living in this area.

The stumpage price changes were calculated and analyzed from the data collected by Timber Mart-South from 1998 to 2007. We analyzed the relationship between pine sawtimber stumpage prices and timber sale characteristics using hedonic pricing method. Quadratic transformation was employed for sale size and contract length. Stumpage prices increased with sale size, contract length, bid sales, and the number of bidders. The presence of above average or excellent grade, market conditions, and logging conditions also are positively related to stumpage prices.

The study was performed to analyze the growth of the red pine (Pinus densiflora) in the Eastern Region of Korea. Stem profile data from a total of 8 dominant trees of which each tree represents its site were collected and used for the analysis. The stem volumes were calculated using Smalian’s formula and much higher than the ones by Korea Forest Research Institute in larger than dbh 40 cm. The total bark volumes were more proportionally related to dbh and stem volume than to height and age. The bark thickness and volume decreased as relative height increases but increased as relative dbh increased. The average PAI of dbh and height reached the highest at 0.8 cm/yr (age 15) and at 0.45 m/yr (age 30) respectively, while the average PAI of volume steadily tended to increase up to age 80. The growth percentages of dbh, height and volume tended to decrease with age and volume growth percentage was higher than dbh and height.

For the last 10 years, there were also a lot of exchanges and cooperations between North and South Korea’s local governments. Dealing with these exchanges more systematically, local governments had issued many regulations. But in the law level, the current laws regulating exchanges and cooperations between North and South Korea lacked care in the role of local governments in the course of Korea reunification. Therefore, it is necessary to redesign the legal system to support and promote the role of local governments in unification affairs. The purpose of this study is to seek answers to a question how the Inter-Korea forest cooperation project effect on regional economy compared with other forest sectors. Results of this study proved that Inter-Korea forest cooperation project effects on regional economy positively as ‘plus investment’, not negatively. Forest cooperation project will be resolve Inter-Korea conflicts more peacefully. So government should be supported continuously in the long run in order to raise the performance.

Two newly recorded spiders, Cheiracanthium lascivum Karsch, 1879 of Eutichuridae and Gnaphosa kamurai Ovtsharenko, Platnick and Song, 1992 of Gnaphosidae are described and illustrated from Korea.

Korean L. leiolepis of the genus Leontopodium could be discriminate from the foreign L. alpinum using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD). Among the 12 URP markers used for the detection, the URP-5 marker and the URP-7 marker detected polymorphic DNA bands, ranging from 400-1000 bp in the size of amplified DNA fragments.