Linking forest successional dynamics to community dependence on provisioning ecosystem services from the Central Himalayan forests of Uttarakhand.

The study examines the relationship between Ecosystem Services (ES) supply and vegetation dynamics through a series of five vegetation types representing a hypothetical successional sequence (i.e., Grassland, Pine, Pine-Oak mix, Open Oak, Dense Oak). We quantified and compared the dependence of local livelihood on provisioning services from forests at each level of succession and the resource extraction methods used to obtain desired products through a structured social survey covering 19 villages and 702 households in Tehri Garhwal and Dehradun districts of Uttarakhand. We found that broad leaved oak forests (covering 38.5% of total 57,516 ha of the study area) were the most important vegetation formation supporting local livelihoods. Meanwhile, the extraction of services from other early successional vegetation formations was significantly lower than oak forests, both in terms of number and quantities. Notably, the highest dependence was on fuel wood, fodder, and stall inlay (animal bedding), most of which were provided by dense oak forests. The high dependence on vegetation to support household needs and subsequent resource extraction through grazing, lopping, cutting, collection, and fire, act as unsystematic management techniques in the study area, maintaining the vegetation in its present form. An understanding of ecosystem service supply from each level of succession and the resource extraction methods used to obtain desired services can assist forest managers to choose the best suited management regime depending on their aim and stakeholder demands.

Wildfires, Ecosystem Services, and Biodiversity in Tropical Dry Forest in India.

This review is intended to contribute to the understanding of the interlinkage between wildfire in India's tropical dry forest (TDF) and selected ecosystem services (ES), namely forest provisioning and water regulating services, as well as biodiversity. TDF covers approximately 146,000 km(2) (4.4%) of India, whereas according to the MODIS fire product about 2200 km(2) (1.4%) burns per year. As studies on wildfire effects upon ESs and biodiversity in Indian TDFs are rare we partly transferred findings from other (dry) forest areas to the environmental situation in India. In India (intentionally lit) wildfires have a very important connection to local livelihoods and the availability of non-wood forest products. Very important adverse long-term effects are the deterioration of forest ecosystems and soil degradation. The potential for TDF to regulate hydrological cycles is expected to be greater in the absence of fire than with it. A general judgment on the effect of fire on biodiversity is difficult as it depends on the community and species involved but a loss of biodiversity under regular burnings is apparent. Consequently, forest managers need sound knowledge regarding the interplay of wildfires and ecosystem behavior in general and more specific knowledge regarding the effects on taxa being considered for conservation efforts. Generally, much more research is needed to understand the trade-offs between the short-term benefits gained from forest provisioning services and long-term adverse effects.