Aptness of Seedling Age of Important Avenue Woody Species of Uttar Pradesh, India

Trees are an important component of our ecosystem, as far as ecological services provided by them are concerned. Especially in urban ecology, their role becomes more significant where they mitigate negative impacts of urbanization like deforestation; loss of wetlands; acquirement of agricultural lands; loss of biodiversity due to habitat clearing; degradation and fragmentation of the landscapes, etc. Trees make urban areas more resilient to these adverse impacts. Avenue plantation is an important part of Urban Forestry. In Avenue plantation, mostly tall seedlings are used. But planting very tall seedlings may affect the secondary growth of the tree, whereas planting small seedlings may be grazed by the animals. It is very important that the planting stock must be able of high rates of survival and good field performance to justify the expense of reforestation efforts. Therefore the present study is focused on the suitable planting age of some important preferred tree species of the Uttar Pradesh Forest Department and their growth performance in field conditions. The selected tree species were Shisham (Dalbergia sissoo), Imli (Tamarindus indica) Kathal (Artocarpus heterophyllus), Jungle Jalebi (Pithecellobium dulce), Kat sagaun (Haplophragma adenophyllum) and Karanj (Pongamia pinnata). These are the major woody species presently being planted in urban forestry. The species with large crown are planted in government garden, city garden, etc. Different age groups of these tree species were planted and their growth performance was studied under different field conditions. Aptness and importance of seedling age were recommended for studied trees for avenue plantation. It was concluded that species like Jungle Jalebi (Pithecellobium dulce), Katsagaun (Haplophragma adenophyllum), and Shisham (Dalbergia sissoo ) seedlings performed well for one year old age as well as for two year old age ones but species like Karanj( Pongamia pinnata), Imli ( Tamarindus indica ) and Kathal (Artocarpus heterophyllus), performed well more for one year old seedling. Therefore all these may be planted after one year of age in nursery to avoid the extra expense of maintaining these seedlings in the nursery stage.