Global environmental changes affect not only the aboveground but also the belowground components of ecosystems. The effects of seasonal drought and air warming on the genus level richness of Collembola, and on the abundance and biomass of the community of Collembola and mites were studied in an acidic and a calcareous forest soil in a model oak-ecosystem experiment (the Querco experiment) at the Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL in Birmensdorf.

Sikkim is a small, mountainous, Indian state (7,096 km2) located in the eastern Himalayan region. Though a global biodiversity hotspot, it has been relatively less studied. A detailed forest type, density and change dynamics study was undertaken, using SATELLITE remote sensing data and intensive field verification.

Sikkim is a small, mountainous, Indian state (7,096 km2) located in the eastern Himalayan region. Though a global biodiversity hotspot, it has been relatively less studied. A detailed forest type, density and change dynamics study was undertaken, using satellite remote sensing data and intensive field verification. The landscape was found to be dominated by alpine and nival ecosystems, with a large portion above the tree line, considerable snow cover, and a sizeable area under forest cover (72%,
5,094 km2).

The complex interaction of environmental stress, poor natural regeneration and insect pests have lead to forest decline in Himalayan sub-region. Amongst the insects, stem and wood boring beetles are capable of causing significant oak mortality. The paper reports the outcome of surveys on wood boring beetles carried out in moist temperate oak forests, mainly with Ban oak, Quercus leucotrichophora Camus, Moru oak, Q. dilatata Lindl and Q. semicarpifolia Smith in six sites in the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand, India.

Rates at which CO2 is being sequestered in two different forest types of Himalaya was computed. For comparative study degraded and non-degraded sites of pine and oak forests in Kumaun Central Himalaya were selected. The Van Panchayats (VPs) or community forests are managing the non degraded forest sites for centuries.

The genus Quercus (oak) is a large group of hardwood trees with about 600 species worldwide1. In the Himalayan region, extensive oak forests (35 species) occur between 1500 and 3300 m elevations. Of the various species of oaks, the white oak or banj (Q. leucotrichophora) forms an extensive belt along the middle elevation (1200