Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) play a crucial role in sustaining the livelihoods of millions of forest-dependent communities in India, with special significance in the tribal-dominated state of Chhattisgarh. This review examines the seasonal collection cycles, utilisation patterns, and socio-economic importance of NTFPs in the region. Chhattisgarh, often termed the “Herbal State of India,” harbours diverse forest ecosystems that provide a wide range of products such as mahua (Madhuca indica), tendu (Diospyros melanoxylon), sal (Shorea robusta), tamarind (Tamarindus indica), chironji (Buchanania lanzan), harra (Terminalia chebula), and lac. The study highlights how seasonal variations influence harvesting practices, with distinct peaks in summer, monsoon, and winter. This is a systematic review of secondary literature (2000–2024). NTFPs serve as an essential source of food, medicine, cultural uses, and income generation, especially for tribal households. Women and children contribute significantly to collection, reflecting the social and gender dimensions of NTFP dependence. However, NTFPs face challenges such as overexploitation, market instability, climate change impacts, and inadequate value addition. Institutional support, particularly through the Chhattisgarh State Minor Forest Produce Federation and schemes like the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for MFPs, has improved procurement and pricing, but gaps remain in systematic documentation, technology adoption, and cooperative marketing. This review underscores the need for sustainable harvesting practices, innovation in processing and value addition, and strengthening of community-based enterprises to enhance the long-term socio-economic benefits of NTFPs. There is an urgent need for ethnobotanical surveys, digital databases, and GIS-based mapping to capture the diversity and distribution of NTFPs across districts. Such documentation would also help in conservation planning and sustainable utilisation strategies. The way forward lies in integrating conservation with livelihood promotion, encouraging community-led management, and leveraging science and policy frameworks for long-term sustainability. This approach can ensure that NTFPs continue to serve as both a biological asset and an economic lifeline for millions of tribal households in the state.

Non-wood forest products (NWFPs) are vital to the economy and livelihoods of forest-dependent communities in Chhattisgarh, India. This aim of this article to examines the current status of various NWFPs in the region, with a focus on key products such as tendu leaves (Diospyros melanoxylon), mahua flowers (Madhucalongifolia), sal seeds (Shorearobusta), bamboo (Bambusoideae spp.), chironji (Buchananialanzan), gums, resins, and medicinal plants. Using a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods, the study assesses the socio-economic significance, harvesting practices, market dynamics, and conservation issues related to each NWFP. The data was gathered through field surveys, interviews with stakeholders, and analysis of secondary sources from government reports and academic literature. NWFPs are shown to make a substantial contribution to local economies by generating income and employment opportunities for rural communities. However, the article also highlights critical challenges such as unsustainable harvesting, lack of value addition, poor market access, and regulatory problems.The theoretical and practical implications of this study are emphasizes the need for sustainable forest management practices to ensure the long-term viability of NWFPs and suggests policy interventions to improve market connections, enhance value addition through processing and marketing, and strengthen regulations to protect forest resources. Overall, the contribution of this study is to enhances understanding of NWFPs in Chhattisgarh, shedding light on their socio-economic importance, challenges, and the potential for sustainable management and conservation amid evolving environmental and socio-economic conditions.

Assessing biodiversity through criteria and indicators has been suggested but rarely put into practice. Documenting and monitoring global biodiversity change is challenging due to limited or biased data and a lack of agreed obligations, but indicators play a key role in studying this problem. For the Western Himalayas we have developed the Forest Biodiversity Index (FBI), based on national forest inventory data. The FBI combines various indicators weighted by experts to assess overall forest biodiversity, including factors reflecting naturalness, vegetation structure, soil (erosion and depth), disturbance, and response. The weight of factors was determined using the group conversion method, considering experts’ opinions while giving justification for assigning a particular value. The sum of all weighted indicator values for 3549 forest inventory points gives us a map illustrating variation in biodiversity: from low to very high. Thus, the FBI is a comprehensive index, which can be used to communicate and provide a workable platform to detect and monitor any biodiversity change over a given period. The FBI in the Western Himalayas shows that more than 89% of the area is in high and very high biodiversity zones, with an accuracy of about 74.8% via validation.

Aims Traditional quantitative approaches to forest classification are based on differences in species abundance or incidence among communities. In these approaches, all species are regarded as biologically equidistant regardless of the biological heterogeneity. The objective of the study is to evaluate the potential of the "Discriminating Avalanche" approach, which integrates species abundance and biological heterogeneity, as a new basis for forest classification. Location China, India, Iran, Ukraine, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Peru, and South Africa. Method We illustrate our approach using a set of 35 large tree-mapped forest plots from various regions of the world. Our dissimilarity matrices, which integrate species abundance with biological heterogeneity, are compared with the standard Bray-Curtis and Whittaker dissimilarity indices, and provide the quantitative basis for a hierarchical cluster analysis. Results Four distinct groups of forests were identified using the proposed forest dissimilarity matrix. Afro-montane forests from South Africa constitute a first group. A second group includes temperate deciduous broad-leaved forests dominated by oak (Quercus) and beech (Fagus) from Europe and China. Conifer-dominated forests constitute a third group. The remaining forests constitute the fourth group. Conclusion Biological heterogeneity provides a practical basis for vegetation classification. The results of this study, based on a variety of temperate and tropical forests, suggest that a measure of biological dissimilarity based on evolutionary and morphological differences among species is more effective than the traditional species abundance-based approaches to classify an arbitrary set of plant communities. This approach promises greater refinement and consistency in ecological classification. In particular, it has advantage in classifying forests along large geographic scales in situations of high beta diversity and species turnover.

Insect crop visitations do not necessarily always translate to transfer or carriage of pollen. To determine the potential of the various insects visiting summer and rainy seasons sponge gourd (Luffa cylindrica (Linn.)) flowers to facilitate the pollen transfer, the present study examines the diversity of visiting insects to sponge gourd seed crops in relation to the time of day and season, diversity and abundance to its flowers, fruits and seed yield. These visiting insects taxonomically belonged to 8 different insect orders viz. Coleoptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera, Hemiptera, Neuroptera, Lepidoptera, Odonata and Orthoptera/Dictyoptera. Rainy season sponge gourd crops had higher numbers of insect visitors and higher diversity (0.80 of Simpson’s Diversity Index and 1.71 of Shannon–Weaver Index of diversity as compared to summer season crop (0.72 and 1.51, respectively). The summer crop had the highest number of visiting insects belonged to the order Coleoptera followed by Hemiptera and Hymenoptera and their reciprocal form of Berger Parker’s dominance indices were 2.21, 5.05 and 6.17, respectively. In summer crop, honeybees were the main pollinators comprising 57.69% of total pollinators in sponge gourds. All the four honeybee species viz., Apis cerana indica, A. dorsata, A. florea and A. mellifera were found to visit in sponge gourd. However, the dominant species was A. florea with 39% of total honeybee share. In rainy season crop, in contrary, honeybees comprised only 16.32% share on total visiting pollinators in sponge gourd. Rice skipper, Pelopidas mathias (46.84% share) was found almost thorough out the day with higher visitation during evening hours. Other pollinators were stingless bees (11.58% share), butterflies and moths. Consequently, we suggest optimizing pollinators’ management including honeybees and thereby improving the attraction of sponge gourd lines to these pollinators to improve pollination rates for sponge gourd seed crops.

This study attempts to review the various biodiversity related parameters envisaged in the current national forest inventory (NFI) of India in comparison to those used worldwide as indicators of forest biodiversity. The study reveals that a good amount of biodiversity related parameters are available, covering the structural attribute of biodiversity, tree species composition, and other important functional attributes like deadwood and litter. In spite of this timber-based approach, a number of variables are available to talk on biodiversity aspects of Indian forests. However, the comparison with the parameters found in literature shows that the scope of further improvement does exist in current NFI's ability to contribute towards a documentation and management of biodiversity. Our gap analysis indicates that enhancing the capacity of the current NFI to generate overall biodiversity information urgently required for safeguarding and conserving the natural wealth of India is strongly needed.

With Ernst Assmann’s appointment to the chair of Forest Yield Science in Munich in 1951, he assumed responsibility for the maintenance of the extensive network of growth-and-yield plots of the Bavarian Forest Research Institute. This network, with some plots having been remeasured since 1870, proved to be a rich source of observations, and constituted the empirical basis for Assmann’s fundamental theories in production ecology. Realizing the strategic value of long-term field observations, scientists are using (a) designed experiments and (b) observational studies to study forest structure and dynamics. This contribution is an attempt to clarify fundamental differences, and to present examples, of these two approaches. We present recent developments regarding the installation of Designed Experiments and show that rigorous experimental design, usually found in planted forests and based on very specific manipulations, that are normally not found in the natural environment is required to address a particular hypothesis that cannot be tested by merely using available observations. We also present examples of new Forest Observational Networks established in China, India, Africa and America. These alternative research infrastructures are especially suitable for the study of natural forests that exhibit a high diversity of tree species with varying size and age structures. Our conclusion is that Forest Observational Studies are emerging as an important alternative to Designed Experiments because they provide a vast amount of information about complex natural forest communities rather quickly. However, long-term commitment is essential to ensure a steady flow of observations about forest dynamics. Manipulated experiments and observational studies can be complementary, but the optimum use of both installations requires careful planning and coordination.

•In India, some LTRS are in good condition while some degraded; maintenance is poor.•Traditional sampling design must be improved as TCP contain limited information.•The long-term FOS Data effectively complement forest inventory and monitoring.•FOS provides empirical basis for understanding ecosystem structure and dynamics.•FOS network provide coverage of extreme sites and densities essential for modelling.

Himalayas are globally important biodiversity hotspots and are facing rapid loss in floristic diversity and changing pattern of vegetation due to various biotic and abiotic factors. This has necessitated the qualitative and quantitative assessment of vegetation here. The present study was conducted in Sangla Valley of northwest Himalaya aiming to assess the structure of vegetation and its trend in the valley along the altitudinal gradient. In the forest and alpine zones of the valley, 15 communities were recorded. Study revealed 320 species belonging to 199 genera and 75 families. Asteraceae, Rosaceae, Apiaceae, and Ranunculaceae were dominant. Among genera, Artemisia followed by Polygonum, Saussurea, Berberis, and Thalictrum were dominant. Tree and shrub’s density ranged from 205 to 600 and from 105 to 1030 individual per hectare, respectively, whereas herbs ranged from 22.08 to 78.95 individual/m2. Nearly 182 species were native to the Himalaya. Maximum altitudinal distribution of few selected climate sensitive species was found to be highest in northeast and north aspects. This study gives an insight into the floristic diversity and community structure of the fragile Sangla Valley which was hitherto not available.

The human nasopharynx is a major ecological niche for Haemophilus influenzae colonization. Establishment of infection is critically dependent on the persistence of bacteria in the nasopharynx. Various factors are presumed to mediate this persistence and the influence of biofilm formation has been under scrutiny for a long time. In a prospective population-based study, the nasopharyngeal colonization pattern of 250 children <2 years old was traced to gain further insights into the phenomenon. The association between biofilm formation and persistence was delineated by quantitative biofilm assay, while the true nature of biofilm formers was further evaluated by electron microscopy studies. H. influenzae isolates obtained in this study, when analysed by phenotypic and genotypic means, revealed a clonal distribution of strains within the population. The biofilm formation ability of the isolates was found to be significantly associated with bacterial persistence ( P <0.001). The isolates having biofilm formation ability were found to be 7.1 times more likely to persist in the nasopharynx than non-biofilm formers. This study provides direct evidence indicating the intricate relationship between biofilm formation and the persistence of bacteria. Our results emphasize the need to evaluate the potential for biofilm formation before designing preventive and therapeutic strategies.

The dynamics of terrestrial ecosystems depends on interactions between carbon, nutrient and hydrological cycles. Terrestrial ecosystems retain carbon in live biomass (aboveground and belowground), decomposing organic matter, and soil. Carbon is exchanged naturally between these systems and the atmosphere through photosynthesis, respiration, decomposition, and combustion. Human activities change carbon stock in these pools and exchanges between them and the atmosphere through land-use, land-use change, and forestry.