Question

what are functional constraints of pine trees?

Answer 1

The integration of Andrographis paniculata under Pinus roxburghii (Chir pine) plantation has been studied to evaluate the growth and yield for its economic viability and conservation. It was grown on three topographical aspects, namely, northern, northwestern, and western, at a spacing of 30 cm × 30 cm, followed by three tillage depths, namely, minimum (0 cm), medium (up to 10 cm), and deep (up to 15 cm) tillage. The growth parameters, namely, plant height and a number of branches per plant, were recorded as significantly higher on the western aspect and lowest on the northern aspect except for the leaf area index which was found nonsignificant.dicine. The Himalayan Subtropical Pine Forests are the largest in the Indo-Pacific region.s Chir pine is a native of the interchanges and principal valleys of the Himalaya; beginning from Afghanistan in the west and ending in Bhutan in the east it extends through Pakistan, India, and Nepal

Functional Constraints :

1). The species is hardy, frugal in its soil requirements, and adapted to degraded sites that are deficient in nutrients. It grows with ease both on deep soils which should be well-drained and on skeletal soils. Being a light-demanding species, it easily rehabilitates exposed sites where most of the broad-leaved species rarely succeed.

2) Chir pine being highly resistant to fire is better suited for tracts where complete fire protection is difficult to ensure. But the Chir pine forest has continued to be a neglected area for the cultivation of medicinal and aromatic plants.

3). The values for all growth parameters and yield attributes in all the seven medicinal and aromatic plants on all aspects were higher in open conditions than the understorey of Chir pine. This suggests that the plants are grown in the open field as a sole crop that has better opportunities to reap more solar energy for photosynthetic activity and less intraspecific competition for critical resources like water, nutrients, and photosynthetically active radiations.s. These favorable factors seem to result in higher values of growth parameters in medicinal and aromatic crops in the open conditions.

4) Apart from the lower values of grown parameters and yield attributes in the understorey of Pinus roxburghii might be because of the possibility of accumulation of phytotoxin in soil over a number of years, which might lead to allelopathic interaction with crops that cannot be ruled out.