Remotely sensed data have become the primary source for biomass estimation. A summary of previous research on remote sensing‐based biomass estimation approaches and a discussion of existing issues influencing biomass estimation are valuable for further improving biomass estimation performance. The literature review has demonstrated that biomass estimation remains a challenging task, especially in those study areas with complex forest stand structures and environmental conditions. Either optical sensor data or radar data are more suitable for forest sites with relatively simple forest stand structure than the sites with complex biophysical environments. A combination of spectral responses and image textures improves biomass estimation performance. More research is needed to focus on the integration of optical and radar data, the use of multi‐source data, and the selection of suitable variables and algorithms for biomass estimation at different scales. Understanding and identifying major uncertainties cause...

The potential and challenge of remote sensing‐based biomass estimation

This review deals with the forest vegetation of the Himalaya with emphasis on: paleoecological, phytogeographical, and phytosociological aspects of vegetation; structural and functional features of forest ecosystem; and relationship between man and forests.

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/BF02858183.pdf

Forest vegetation of the Himalaya

Carbon exists as carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and constitutes about 0.04% of the atmosphere. In the recent past, it has gained a lot of attention as a greenhouse gas, as it has potential to influence the climate pattern of the world. Anthropogenic activities like industrialisation, deforestation, forest degradation and burning of fossil fuel, has caused an increase in the level of carbon in the atmosphere and disrupted the global carbon cycle. However, nature has its own mechanism of sequestering and storing the carbon in its “reservoirs” or “sinks’’. Forest plays an important role in the global carbon cycle as carbon sinks of the terrestrial ecosystem. The carbon sequestered or stored on the forest trees are mostly referred to as the biomass of the tree or forest. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change identified five carbon pools of the terrestrial ecosystem involving biomass, namely the aboveground biomass, below-ground biomass, litter, woody debris and soil organic matter. Among all the carbon pools, the above-ground biomass constitutes the major portion of the carbon pool. Estimating the amount of forest biomass is very crucial for monitoring and estimating the amount of carbon that is lost or emitted during deforestation, and it will also give us an idea of the forest’s potential to sequester and store carbon in the forest ecosystem. Estimations of forest carbon stocks are based upon the estimation of forest biomass. Forest’s carbon stocks are generally not measured directly; however, many authors assume the carbon concentration of tree parts to be 50% or 45% of the dry biomass. This paper, aims to review and summarise the various methods and studies that were carried out to estimate the above-ground biomass of the forest.

Methods to Estimate Above-Ground Biomass and Carbon Stock in Natural Forests - A Review

Since 1930, areas of state-managed forest in the central Himalayas of India have increasingly been devolved to management by local communities. This article studies the long-run effects of the devolution on the cost of forest management and on forest conservation. Village council-management costs an order of magnitude less per unit area and does no worse, and possibly better, at conservation than state management. Geographic proximity and historical and ecological information are used to separate the effects of management from those of possible confounding factors.

https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/106/11/4143.full.pdf

Decentralization for cost-effective conservation.

Land use dynamics and landscape change pattern in a typical micro watershed in the mid elevation zone of central Himalaya, India

The forests of the Central Himalaya are suffering serious losses due to population growth and expansion of agriculture. Although utilization of forest products is a necessary component of the Central Himalayan agroeconomy it is prohibitively inefficient. More than seven units of energy must be taken from the forest in order to produce a single unit of agricultural energy. Consequently, the carrying capacity of the forest has been exceeded. Further destruction of the forest must be prevented and positive steps such as reforestation and tree farming should be taken to ensure the future of the region's ecology and economy.

Man and forests: a central Himalayan case study.

Himalayan Forests: A Net Source of Carbon for the Atmosphere

Mapping forest biomass in India through aerial photographs and nondestructive field sampling

The vegetation and other landuses of Kathgodam to Okhalkanda area in the hilly part of Naini Tal district (Kumaun Himalaya) were studied through aerial photo-analysis. Out of a total area of 44862 ha, 40.1 % was under non-forest landuse and 59.9% was devoted to forest landuse. Forests with crown density > 40% were recorded in 10.3% of the total study area and only 1.6 % land had forests with > 60 % crown density.

A. K. Tiwari

Papers

Man and forests: a central Himalayan case study.

Himalayan Forests: A Net Source of Carbon for the Atmosphere

Mapping forest biomass in India through aerial photographs and nondestructive field sampling

Application of aerial photo-analysis for assessment of vegetation in Kumaun Himalaya. II. Kathgodam to Okhalkanda