Moving on!

Dear Lyonia readers,

This will be my last issue of Lyonia to publish. After three years as Editor-in-Chief of Lyonia it is time for me to move on to new tasks.

In the last three years, Lyonia changed from an infrequently published in-house journal, to an internationally recognized online journal with multiple issues per year.

The quality of manuscripts submitted to Lyonia is excellent. Lyonia's focus on tropical ecology and sustainable development attracts a large number of contributions. The journal is read especially widely in the tropical countries of our world, with the highest percentage of its readers coming from Latin America.

There is always room for improvement however, and I hope that Lyonia is going to become even better under its new Editor-in-Chief. For now, Dr. Cliff Morden, Interim Director of Lyon Arboretum, will take over this position.

I wish to thank all members of the Editorial Board, all reviewers, and of course, all contributers, who have helped to make Lyonia a successful online journal in a very short time.

Regards,
Rainer Bussmann

Vegetation zonation and nomenclature of African Mountains - An overview
Rainer W. Bussmann
Abstract  This review provides an overview on the vegetation zonation of a large part of the mountain systems of the African continent. The Atlas and Jebel Marra are discussed as examples for the dry North African Mountains. The Drakensberg range is shown as representative of the mountain systems of Southern Africa. The main focus of the review falls on the Afrotropical mountains: Mt. Kenya, Aberdares, Kilimanjaro, Mt. Meru, Mt. Elgon, Mt. Cameroon, Mt. Ruwenzori, Virunga, Simien Mts., Bale Mts. and Imatong. A new nomenclature for the vegetation belts of Afrotropical Mountains is proposed.
Key words: Africa, mountain vegetation, vegetation belts, nomenclature, Mt. Kenya, Aberdares, Kilimanjaro, Mt. Meru, Mt. Elgon, Mt. Cameroon, Mt. Ruwenzori, Virunga, Simien Mts., Bale Mts.,... [Read Entire Article] Tree population structure, regeneration and expected future composition at different levels of Lantana camara L. invasion in the Vindhyan tropical dry deciduous forest of India
Gyan P. Sharma* and A. S. Raghubanshi
Abstract 
This study deals with the differential response of Lantana camara L. (lantana) cover on the forest structure, regeneration and expected future compositional change of tree species in the Vindhyan dry deciduous tropical forest of India. A total of 90 quadrats, distributed over three sites, differing in lantana cover (low; 0-30%, medium; 31-60% and high; 61-100%), were used to enumerate the tree species. A total of 37 species with 14851 stems were enumerated from the three study sites, which were in gradient of lantana cover. Number of species varied from 21 to 30, while the number of individuals varied from 3408 to 7458 per site with former in high and later in low lantana cover. PCA ordination and Bray-Curtis cluster analysis revealed that the sites were not... [Read Entire Article] Sequestration and storage capacity of carbon in the canopy oak trees and their epiphytes in a Neotropic Cloud Forest, Colombia
Diego Higuera* & Eliana Martínez**
Abstract  For this project, the sequestration and storage capacity of carbon were quantified in canopy trees along with their epiphytes in a fragment of a cloud forest where oak trees - Quercus humboldtii - represent the largest part of the whole forest. It was found that each of the components of the epiphyte-host tree system shows different percentages of C concentration. In the case of Oak trees, it was found that the branches with diameters lower than 5 cm. have the largest capacity in capturing C (40.13%), followed by the wood contained in the trunk and in branches with diameters higher than 5 cm (38.75%) and fresh leaves and dead leaves show (35.95%) and (34.05%) of C retention respectively. In the case of epiphytes growing on these trees, it was discovered that the... [Read Entire Article] Forest Resource Management in Mountain Regions: A Case for the Pindar Basin of Uttaranchal Himalaya
Vishwambhar Prasad Sati
Abstract  This paper examines the forest diversity and degradation of forest in the Pindar Basin of Uttaranchal Himalaya and suggests the management of forest resources in this fragile mountain terrain, as sustainable management schemes for forests have become increasingly important and timely, because these areas have come under serious exploitation and constant threat of disintegration, following the depletion of forest. The natural hazards and man-induced activities, both are equally responsible for depletion of forest in mountain areas, while, the mountains are having the highest biodiversity of fauna and flora. In the Pindar Basin, four zones of forests exist according to altitudes. These zones are characterized by eucalyptus and Dendrocalamus spp. trees in the low-lying region,... [Read Entire Article] Litterfall and nutrient fluxes in canopy oaks in neotropical cloud forest – Colombia
Diego Higuera* & Eliana Martínez**
Abstract  In a small part of a cloud forest located at 2700 m in the Eastern Colombian Andean mountain, where the dominant species is the oak (Quercus humboldtii), litterfall was determined by means of 12 litter traps. They were placed in two oak canopy trees at different heights, between 12 m and 22 m. It was found that in adult oak trees whose biomass of green leaves can vary between 20.52 kg and 27.22 kg, litterfall was presented throughout all the year. The concentrations of N, P, K, S and Ca were lower in litter rather than in green leaves, and the Mg concentrations did not vary. Q. humboldtii presented high concentrations of N (18.2 mg g-1) and low concentrations of P and K. Nevertheless, these two last nutrients presented a high retranslocation, which... [Read Entire Article] Ficus (Fig) species in Nepal: a review of diversity and indigenous uses
Ripu M. Kunwar1* & Rainer W. Bussmann2
Abstract  Ficus (Fig) species have a wide range of distribution and uses in Nepal. Of the 36 Ficus species native to Nepal, 21 are indigenously used as food, fodder, fuel wood, vegetable, medicine, etc. and some are used religeously in Nepal, and 10 in the closer study area. Ficus religiosa (Pipal), F. benghalensis (Bar), F. benjamina (Sami), F. racemosa (Dumri), especially have a high religious value for both Hindus and Buddhists and are deemed sacred. The indigenous use as medicine is very important. F. benghalensis (Bar) was found as the medicinally most important species , used to treat 22 ailments. Key words: Ficus, Nepal, traditional use, biodiversity
Phenology of species of moist deciduous forest sites of Similipal biosphere reserve
R.K.Mishra1, V. P. Upadhyay2 S. Bal1, P.K. Mohapatra1 & R. C. Mohanty1
Abstract  Vegetative and reproductive phenology of 57 overstorey and 33 understorey species was studied in a tropical moist deciduous forest of Similipal Biosphere Reserve (SBR) located in Orissa state in India. A prominent peak in leaf drop, leaf flush and flowering of overstorey species occurred in March, April and April to May, respectively. However the peak period of such phenological events in understorey species is slightly different than over storey species. The peak fruiting period of both overstorey and understorey species are same i.e. from May to June. The fruiting phenology follows closely the flowering phenology. Fruit fall culminates before or just at the beginning of the monsoon season and, thus, ensures availability of sufficient moisture to seeds for germination... [Read Entire Article]