Floral composition and biodiversity conservation in homestead forests in Mymensingh, Bangladesh

Abstract

Continued denudation of forest vegetation in national forests and protected areas of Bangladesh, due to increasing population and other biotic and abiotic pressures, poses a threat to forest productivity and biodiversity. Homestead forests, although mostly in scattered areas, provide most of the total supply of timber and timber products in Bangladesh. This study investigated the biodiversity of homestead forests in the Mymensingh District, Bangladesh. We studied the composition, diversity and structure of homestead forest species through empirical field research. A total of 43 woody perennials and 38 vegetables species were found in the study sites. Banana, betel nut, jackfruit, mango, mahogany, teak and acacia constituted the major floral composition. The abundance of horticultural species was higher than that of the timber species in all the study sites. However, among the newly planted homestead plants, timber species are gradually increasing. This trend of floral dynamics indicates a probable change in future homestead plant structure and composition. This study confirms that the homestead forests of Bangladesh are rich in plant species diversity even distributed sporadically in small areas. With appropriate models, based on both traditional and scientific knowledge, homestead forestry could emerge as an effective means for both economic well-being and biodiversity conservation in Bangladesh.

Keywords:

• Bangladesh
• homestead forests
• Shannon–Weaver index
• Simpson index
• plant diversity

Introduction

Bangladesh, being a subtropical country, enjoys a wide range of diversity of plants in homestead forests. Homesteads are privately owned dwelling areas in rural and semi-urban settings that include a dwelling unit equipped with a kitchen, backyard, front yard and occasionally a pond and home garden. A homestead forest or home garden is a mixture of deliberately planted vegetation, usually with a complex structure and designed to produce natural products for household consumption or for the market (Vogl and Vogl-Lukasser 2003; Kabir and Webb 2008a, 2008b, 2009). Homestead forest comprises 2% (2951.40 km²) of the total land area of Bangladesh, which spreads over 20 million homesteads (Salam et al. 2000). Homestead forestry is a traditional agro-forest practice where vegetables, fruits, timber species and other crops are grown intensively in and around the dwelling premises simultaneously and/or sequentially. Homestead forests around the world often exhibit remarkable variation in floral composition and structure depending on the physiographic and climatic conditions of the area and a wide variety of household characteristics. Homestead forestry practices are prevalent not only in Bangladesh but also in many South and Southeast Asian, Latin American and African countries. The terminology for homestead-based plant production varies between ‘home garden’ and ‘backyard agro-forest garden’ in the Philippines; ‘village-forest gardens’ (Michon 1983) in Java; and ‘mixed gardens’ in Central America. In Bangladesh, the terms ‘homestead forest’ or ‘tree cover’ are commonly used.

In Bangladesh, the inventory on homestead forestry began in the early 1980s with the aid of the FAO. Results of this inventory report in Bangladesh indicate that trees in homestead forests constitute a vital resource for local populations, providing food, fodder and fuelwood (FAO 1981). Since then, many studies have been carried out on this concept and examined the different aspects on homestead forestry. Notable past studies pertaining to our current research include the National Forest and Tree Resources Assessment 2005–2007 Bangladesh (GOB 2009a), structure, floristics, vegetation characteristics and indigenous management of Bangladesh home garden (Mustafa et al. 1996, 2000; Mustafa and Haruni 2002); flood plain tree resources (Miah and Hossain 2002); home-garden-farming system (Ali 2005); structure and diversity of home garden agro-forestry (Zaman et al. 2010); farmer's perceptions on planting trees in homesteads (Salam et al. 2000); homestead biodiversity, floristics and characteristics (Kabir and Webb 2008a, 2008b, 2009); along with the previous works of Douglas (1981), Hammermaster (1981) and others. Past studies confirmed that homestead forests are rich in diversified plants and contribute considerable role in the rural livelihood of Bangladesh, especially in terms of providing firewood and timber. Of the total area of Bangladesh (147,570 km²), agricultural land makes up 64.2%, forestlands account for about 17.8%, whilst urban areas are 8.3%. Water and other land use practices account for the remaining 9.9% (GOB 1995). Among the forest areas, privately owned homestead forests occupy an area of 11.5%, while the government forests and tea/rubber plantation occupy the rest of the 88.5%.

Bangladesh, being a small country, never had huge forest resources. Per capita forestland in Bangladesh is 0.022 ha which is among the lowest in the world (FAO 2011). Continued denudation of the forest vegetation has turned to barren with mostly covered by grass, scrub or bush. Though the forest area of Bangladesh is 17.8%, 40% of the forest area has less than 30% tree cover (GOB 2009a). This deterioration of vegetation loss is due to high population pressure, acute demand of forest products, lack of public awareness, conversion of forestland to other land uses and inadequate institutional and managerial capabilities of Bangladesh Forest Department (FD). The reported deforestation rate was increased from 0.9% to 2.7% during the period of 1970–1990 (GOB 2001). To halt the deforestation as well as to reduce the pressure on natural forests, homestead forestry is an alternative option to mitigate the people's demand for firewood and timber.

A wide variety of factors may be associated with homestead forest diversity and structure, including biophysical features such as biogeography, proximity to forest and elevation (Soemarwoto 1987; Kumar et al. 1994; Hocking et al. 1996; Trinh et al. 2003; Ali 2005); economic requirements, for example, subsistence or commercial orientation of the farmers (Michon and Mary 1994; Trinh et al. 2003; Ali 2005; Abdoellah et al. 2006); and social responses that includes tradition, culture, ethnicity, previous experience and education (Mustafa et al. 2000; Trinh et al. 2003; Simons and Leakey 2004). At present, however, the country is vulnerable to effects of climate change that threaten the economy of poor people. Due to inter-annual climatic variability and poor economy, rural people are modifying the cropping pattern in their homesteads with an aim to ensure maximum benefit with minimum investment. Therefore, this study was carried out to identify the present status of homestead forests through investigating the plant species composition and diversity as well as to explore the trends of growing trees in homesteads. We assumed that every household has at least a portion of land for homestead forest, comprises greater plant diversity and horticultural species are more abundant than timber species.

Methodology

Study areas

We have carried out the study in four sub-districts (i.e. Bhaluka, Fulbaria, Muktagacha and Mymensingh Sadar) of Mymensingh District in Bangladesh (Figure 1). The district covers an area of around 4363 km² consisting of several small valleys between high forests (GOB 2009b). The temperature ranges from 12°C to 33°C and the average annual rainfall is about 2174 mm. Bhaluka is located at 24°22.5′ N, 90°22.7′ E and the total area is 444.05 km². Fulbaria is located at 24°38′ N, 90°16′ E and covers an area of 402.41 km². Muktagacha is located at 24°45.5′ N, 90°16′ E and its total area is 314.71 km². Mymensingh Sadar is located at 24°45′ N, 90°25′ E and covers an area of 388.45 km². The soil formation of the district is flood plain, grey piedmont, hill brown and terrace. Jute, mustard seed, sugarcane, tobacco, sesame and paddy are common agricultural crops cultivated in the study areas, while jackfruit, mango, banana and papaya are the most common among horticultural crops. Previous studies on this aspect were carried out in the southeastern part, northeastern part and northern part in Bangladesh where land value and demographic pressure on forests are comparatively less than our study area, which is located quite close to the capital of Bangladesh. Besides, the study areas are located in and around the state forest areas, which is badly degraded and encroached upon. Therefore, studying the homestead forest floral composition and diversity seems relevant to know the current state of the art and future dynamics of homestead biodiversity. Additionally, this study has given a chance to compare the results with previous studies especially with the National Forest and Tree Resources Assessment 2005–2007 Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Figure 1. Map showing the study areas.

Sampling and data collection

We have carried out the study in the four sub-districts of Mymensingh District in order to understand the plant species composition, plant species diversity, their abundance and patterns in homestead forests. The study was conducted during March 2010 and investigated in randomly selected 120 homesteads from 12 villages (30 from each sub-district) for sampling. The total human population of the Mymensingh District (consisting 12 sub-districts) is 3,957,182 (GOB 2009b), of which the population number is lower than the average (i.e. 329,765 persons) in seven sub-districts, but higher in the remaining five sub-districts. However, in this study, to facilitate the sampling activities, we randomly chose two sub-districts (i.e. Bhaluka and Muktagacha) among the seven sub-districts consisting of human populations lower than the average, while two other sub-districts (i.e. Fulbaria and Mymensingh Sadar) were chosen from the remaining five sub-districts that represent human populations higher than the average. We have used semi-structured questionnaire and conducted interviews (both formal and informal) and Focus Group Discussion (FGD) for data collection. The questionnaire included socio-economic and demographic information related to household. In addition, a separate questionnaire is used for data collection about the cropping patterns that were available in homesteads. Name and number of plant species in all the randomly selected households were collected during the field survey. Herbaceous plants were not taken into account because of their unknown utility and lack of economic importance to the homestead dwellers. We categorized the land allocation status for home gardening into none (no land for homestead forest), very poor (1–400 m²), poor (401–800 m²), medium (801–1200 m²) and rich (above 1200 m²) (adopted after Khan et al. (2007)).

Species diversity

The diversity index is a well-known method of showing that diversity is not only numbers of different species, but also how well each of these species is represented in different areas. Species diversity is an index that incorporates the number of species in an area and their relative abundance. It is a broader concept than species richness. Species richness is only a measure of the number of species per sample. The more species present in a sample, the ‘richer’ the sample. Consequently, in the measurement of species richness, the number of each individual in each species is unaccounted. The same importance is given to all species whether they are abundant or not.

Species diversity, on the other hand, takes into account the relative abundance of a species and not just its occurrence. If a community is composed of few species, or if few species are abundant, the species diversity will be low. High species diversity indicates the presence of a complex ecological community. Various methods exist to make a relationship between species composition and species diversity. To demonstrate the relationship, Simpson's diversity index, Shannon–Weaver function and their evenness will be measured.

Simpson's index of diversity

For plant species, the percentage cover in a square is used. The percentage cover is used because it is typically very difficult to count all the individual plants. The proportion of species i relative to the total number of species (P_i ) is calculated and squared. The squared proportions for all the species are summed, and the reciprocal is taken. The formula for the Simpson's diversity index is as follows:

Equitability (E_D ) is the ratio of Simpson's diversity index D to the maximum value of species type D _max. The formula to measure species evenness is

Values of Simpson's diversity evenness can range between 0 and 1. The relationship between the index value and diversity is reciprocal which means lower value of Simpson's diversity index and evenness indicates higher diversity.

Shannon–Weaver index

This index is a diversity index that measures variation among the species. The index value can be measured as follows:

where is the Shannon–Weaver diversity index; n_i is the number of individuals in species i; N is the number of total individuals, also called as species richness; and P_i is the evenness of each species.

Evenness is a measure of the relative abundance of the different species making up the richness of an area, calculated as the proportion of individuals of a given species to the total number of individuals in the community n _i /N. The Shannon–Weaver index indicates species diversity of a community or area. The higher the value, the higher will be the diversity. If the diversity is more, this indicates less competition between species. If the value is lower, this indicates that competition has narrowed down the amount of species able to make a living in that community or area. According to Hennink and Zeven (1991), the Shannon–Weaver index cannot be used for measuring variation of the species; there are separate calculations for those. Because they explained that there is no association between the amounts of variation for different characters, such conclusion is only valid for some considered characters. However, the richness of the species and the evenness of the community can be used to calculate the diversity.

Species evenness is a diversity index, a measure of biodiversity, which quantifies how equal the community is numerical. The formula to measure the evenness of a community through Shannon's diversity index is as follows:

It is also known as Pielou's evenness index and often expressed as J, where is the number derived from the Shannon–Weaver diversity index and is the maximum value of , which is equal to

where S is the total number of species. is constrained between 0 and 1. The less variation in communities between the species, the higher is the diversity. The higher value in represents a higher diversity.

Data analysis

Species found in all the four study sites have been identified and recorded by their respective English name, local name, scientific name, type, number and their relative abundance (Appendix 1). Amid the research, we found that some species are more frequent than others and they alone are providing maximum contribution in the total number of species. Therefore, to calculate the percentage contribution of all species to the total species, we separated the major species to compare them in a separate sheet in order to avoid minimum contributory species. However, we calculated the abundance of each species and made a comparison between the most abundant seven species. In addition, two more species were notified for each study site as major species, but they were not common in other study sites. We also compared the abundance of horticultural versus timber species in order to understand the preference of household owners across the study areas. Total landholding and annual family income of households were statistically examined for their average value along with the standard deviation (SD) and standard error of mean. Data analysis was carried out with SPSS (SPSS, Chicago, IL, USA).

Results

Basic demographic and land use pattern of households

The mean household size was 5 ± 1.2 (SD) persons across the study area. The average landholding status of the respondents was 1591.1 ± 666.0 m², of which respondents allocated on an average 744.9 ± 514.2 m² for housing, 453.4 ± 659.9 m² for homestead forests, 291.5 ± 137.7 m² for pond area and 101.2 ± 320.2 m² for other land use. Mean annual income and expenditure per family in the study areas were 122,083.3 ± 123,481 Tk and 99,716.8 ± 118,750 Tk, respectively (1 US$ = 70 Tk; Taka is a Bangladesh currency).

Land distribution for homestead forest

Majority of the respondents had no land for home gardening across the four study sites (Figure 2). The proportion of such respondents was higher in Fulbaria (60%) and lower in Muktagacha (33%), while in other two sub-districts this proportion ranged between 35% and 40%. In other four classes of land distribution for homestead gardening, the respondents residing in Mymensingh Sadar and Bhaluka sub-districts allocated more land compared to those respondents residing in Fulbaria. Among the respondents living in Muktagacha, very few respondents allocated 801–1200 m² land for homestead forests and no respondents were found to allocate land above 1200 m².

Figure 2. Land distribution for homestead forestry in each of the study areas.

Major species composition and comparison in homestead forests

We found that banana (Musa sapientum), betel nut (Areca catechu), jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus), mango (Mangifera indica), mahogany (Swietenia mahogani), teak (Tectona grandis) and acacia (Acacia auriculiformis) were the major plant species cultivated mostly across the study areas. These species were found as dominant species across the study sites, but proportionately higher in the Mymensingh Sadar, intermediate in Muktagacha and lowest in Bhaluka. Among the seven major dominant species identified across the study areas, banana, betel nut and jackfruit trees showed higher abundance in Muktagacha, Mymensingh Sadar and Bhaluka sub-districts, respectively. The abundance of other four species such as mango, mahogany, teak and acacia in homestead forests across the study areas varied slightly (Table 1). Additionally, two other site-specific abundant species were recorded as such in these sub-districts: coconut (Cocos nucifera) and Indian Ash tree (Lannea coromandelica) were found in Mymensingh Sadar; coconut (Cocos nucifera) and sal (Shorea robusta) in Muktagacha; rain tree (Albizia saman) and dates (Phoenix sylvestris) were found in Fulbaria; and Sal (Shorea robusta) and eucalyptus (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) were found in Bhaluka.

Table 1. Number and percentage of major flora species in the study areas: local names are used; botanical names are given in Appendix 1

		Major species by number and percentage
Location	Total species	Banana	Betel nut	Jackfruit	Mango	Mahogany	Teak	Acacia	Total of the major species	Other site-specific species
Mymensingh Sadar	2086	113 (5.42)	901 (43.19)	168 (8.05)	111 (5.32)	118 (5.66)	51 (2.45)	17 (0.81)	1479 (70.90)	Coconut – 54 (2.60) Indian ash tree – 57 (2.70)
Muktagacha	2155	436 (20.23)	389 (18.05)	85 (3.94)	90 (4.18)	128 (5.94)	115 (5.34)	55 (2.55)	1298 (60.23)	Coconut – 63 (2.92) Sal – 29 (1.35)
Fulbaria	1319	108 (8.19)	227 (17.21)	48 (3.64)	96 (7.28)	110 (8.34)	43 (3.26)	44 (3.34)	676 (51.26)	Raintree – 100 (7.58) Dates – 40 (3.03)
Bhaluka	2390	192 (8.03)	210 (8.79)	359 (15.02)	78 (3.26)	91 (3.81)	134 (5.61)	153 (6.40)	1217 (50.92)	Sal – 198 (8.29) Eucalyptus – 63 (2.64)

Horticultural versus timber species

Among the study areas, horticultural species showed greater abundance than timber species (Figure 3). The difference in the abundance of these two kinds of plant species was higher in Mymensingh Sadar and lower in Bhaluka. The proportion of the abundance of timber species in homestead was higher in Bhaluka and lower in Mymensingh Sadar. Conversely, in the case of horticultural species, there was a greater abundance found in Mymensingh Sadar and lesser abundance in Bhaluka. However, a different scenario was observed in the young homestead plants of 5–6 years old, where timber species have been found as the most preferred species (Figure 4), considering timber as important future savings. Highest proportion of timber species was found in Bhaluka, while it was lower in Fulbaria.

Figure 3. Graph showing the relative abundance of horticulture and timber species in each study area.

Figure 4. Comparison between newly planted timber plants and horticulture plants in each of the study areas.

Bamboo resources in the study area

On an average, six to seven bamboo clumps were found in homestead forests of the study areas (Table 2). It was found that 15–25 bamboos grow per bamboo grove depending on the bamboo species: Bambusa longispiculata (Talla Bans), Bambusa balcooa (Barua Bans), Bambusa tulda (Mitinga), Bambusa polymorpha (Pharua Bans), Bambusa nutans (Mal Bans), Bambusa vulgaris (Bariala Bans) and Dendrocalamus giganteus (Bhudum Bans) were common species grown in the study areas.

Table 2. Bamboo resources found in the homestead forests across the study areas

		Bamboo clumps and their approximate number of culms
Study sites	No. of homesteads having bamboo yard	No. of bamboo clumps	Approximate no. of bamboo culms	Average no. of bamboo clumps per homestead	Species available
Mymensingh Sadar	26	158	2370–3950	6.08	Bambusa longispiculata (Talla Bans), B. balcooa (Barua Bans), B. tulda (Mitinga) and Dendrocalamus giganteus (Bhudum Bans)
Muktagacha	30	213	3195–5325	7.10	Bambusa longispiculata (Talla Bans), B. balcooa (Barua Bans), B. tulda (Mitinga), B. polymorpha (Pharua Bans), B. nutans (Mal Bans) and Dendrocalamus giganteus (Bhudum Bans)
Fulbaria	28	189	2835–4725	6.75	Bambusa longispiculata (Talla Bans), B. balcooa (Barua Bans), B. tulda (Mitinga), B. polymorpha (Pharua Bans), B. nutans (Mal Bans) and Dendrocalamus giganteus (Bhudum Bans)
Bhaluka	29	177	2655–4425	6.10	Bambusa longispiculata (Talla Bans), B. balcooa (Barua Bans), B. tulda (Mitinga), B. polymorpha (Pharua Bans), B. nutans (Mal Bans), B. vulgaris (Bariala Bans) and Dendrocalamus giganteus (Bhudum Bans)

Species diversity

The Shannon–Weaver index indicates that the homestead forest of Mymensingh Sadar was less diverse compared to the other three sub-districts (Table 3). The Simpson's diversity index also expressed similar trends. The findings of this study also revealed that the species were almost evenly distributed.

Table 3. Plant species diversity indices of the study areas

Study sites	Shannon–Weaver diversity index H′ (Evenness, EH′ )	Simpson's diversity index (D) (Evenness, ED )
Mymensingh Sadar	2.62 (0.61)	4.95 (0.07)
Muktagacha	3.26 (0.74)	11.57 (0.14)
Fulbaria	3.40 (0.78)	16.53 (0.21)
Bhaluka	3.33 (0.76)	16.11 (0.20)
Notes: H′, Shannon–Weaver diversity index; EH′ , Shannon–Weaver equitability/evenness; D, Simpson's diversity index; ED , Simpson's equitability/evenness. Numbers in parentheses indicate EH′ and ED , respectively.

Discussion

As continuous deforestation is running on even in protected and restricted areas, the current situation of overall forest and forest resources is far below the desired level. Homestead forests occur in scattered areas and provide 80% of the total demand of timber and timber products in Bangladesh (GOB 2009a). Therefore, sustainable development of homestead forest can play a potential role in the conservation of protected areas and forest reserves in the country. In addition, homestead forestry practice can offer a sustainable route in the underdeveloped economy of Bangladesh, since the owners of the homestead forests are the sole beneficiaries. This study revealed that within the study areas, a considerable proportion of households were not involved in homestead gardening due to lack of available land around their houses, but they have interest for home gardening (personal observation) which has conformity with the findings of the National Forest and Tree Inventory in Bangladesh (GOB 2009a). The respondents of Mymensingh Sadar failed to allocate land for home gardening mainly due to living in town areas. Scarcity of land is a major problem in town areas due to increasing rate of immigrants for employments and other benefits. In the case of the other three sub-districts, severe poverty is related to their inability for home gardening. Thus, it is very important to involve these poor people into participatory social forestry programmes being implemented by the FD.

Homestead flora in Bangladesh comprises 182 tree species belonging to 136 genera of 48 families (Rahman et al. 2005). Most of them have multiple uses, and about 40% of them are fruit trees. National Forest and Tree Resource Assessment report showed that 15 species, namely, Cocos nucifera, Samanea saman, Mangifera indica, Areca catechu, Swietenia spp., Artocarpus heterophyllus, Phoenix sylvestis, Borassus flabellifer, Albizia procera, Artocarpus chaplasha, Bombax ceiba, Lannea coromandelica, Anthocephalus cinensis, Syzygium cumini and Albizia richardiana represent 80% of the total tree volume in the village forests. More importantly, four most common species, namely, Cocos nucifera, Samanea saman, Mangifera indica and Areca catechu represent almost 50% of the total volume. The average homestead plant species diversity index of our four study areas was found to be 3.15, which is slightly less than the national average (3.23) (GOB 2009a). However, our plant diversity index is largely greater than the study carried out in a certain flood plain district in Bangladesh by Miah and Hossain (2002), where their calculated diversity index was 0.379. However, species diversity index for Javanese and Sudanese homesteads were found to be 2.79 and 3.71, respectively (Christanty et al. 1986). This study also revealed that most of the homestead forests in the study areas comprised some productive plant species like banana, betel nut, jackfruit and mango, which are abundant and indicate the choice of farmers for their nutritional and economic value.

It was found that many people who live around the study areas took agro-forestry as their secondary or tertiary (sometimes primary) occupation, and their preferences lie in these seven species as they provide fruit, timber or fuelwood to trade. Therefore, we found that in home gardens, horticultural species are more abundant than timber species. However, Bangladesh FD created the Forest Extension Division for encouraging the farmers in order to increase the abundance of timber species in their home garden and other denuded and vacant areas. A gradual expansion of the establishment of nurseries, ceremonial plantings and tree-planting campaigns are improving the situation as we found that timber species are dominant among the 5–6-year-old plants. The gradual decreasing size of individual homesteads due to increasing human population is another reason preferring tree species. Due to the gradual increase of population and transformation of a joint family system to a nuclear family system, homestead size is decreasing day-by-day (although the homestead size is decreasing, the overall homestead area countrywide is increasing). People have limited space to plant horticultural plants, as they require large canopy cover. Therefore, they become more interested to plant fast growing timber and fuelwood species with little canopy closure.

Bamboo is an important non-wood forest product in the study areas. The rural people primarily meet their demand for bamboo from their homesteads and by selling the surplus bamboo they earn additional income. Fifty-four different uses of bamboo are recognized, such as house construction materials, household utensils, food, fodder, medicine, musical instruments, raw materials for pulp and paper and cottage industries, fuelwood, hedge and fence and so on. Generally, every rural household maintains small bamboo yards that occupy the backyard and periphery of the homesteads (Banik 1998).

The findings of this study also confirmed that homestead forest in Mymensingh District is truly rich in plant species diversity despite the fact that the area is not vast. As higher species diversity of plants is found despite the smaller geographical area, numerous scopes (e.g. economic, medicinal, food and aesthetic) of homestead forests cannot be depreciated. It became illuminated too that homestead forests of the study sites represent an intensive delicate vertical structure of multi-layered species.

Conclusion

The rich biodiversity of the study areas is a positive scenario against the poor performance of the designated forests in Bangladesh. The diverse and delicate nature of homestead forests within the study areas suggests that the local people are very rich in indigenous and traditional knowledge for practising homestead forestry. As many people within the study area as well as in Bangladesh have a very small amount of per capita landholding, all available lands including homesteads need to bring under production system. People's opinion stands for the support of improving homestead forestry practice based on scientific knowledge. All these examples provide good reasons that homestead forestry practices can emerge as an effective mean for both economic and environmental well-being. In doing so, homestead dwellers should be provided necessary technical and managerial training. The current trend of planting more tree species indicates a probable change in future homestead plant structure and composition in the study areas. In this regard, further research needs to be carried out on available knowledge, homestead practices and synthesis of acquired knowledge in order to develop effective homestead forestry models.

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the support of Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany, for their financial support to conduct this research work. Very special thanks and acknowledgements are due to the respondents who were interviewed during data collection. The authors also appreciate the comments and critiques of the anonymous reviewers of this manuscript.

Appendix 1. Homestead flora of the study areas

Table

Name of the species				Flora by number and relative abundance^b
English name	Local name	Scientific name	Type^a	Ms	Mu	Fu	Bh
Woody perennial
Acacia	Akashmoni	Acacia auriculiformis	T	17 (0.81)^c	55 (2.55)	44 (3.34)	153 (6.40)
Benteak	Shidha	Lagerstroemia parviflora	T	1 (0.05)	7 (0.32)	3 (0.23)	7 (0.29)
Betel nut	Supari	Areca catechu	Ht	901 (43.19)	389 (18.05)	227 (17.21)	210 (8.79)
Bengal quince	Bel	Aegle marmelos	Ht	5 (0.24)	7 (0.32)	7 (0.53)	10 (0.42)
Black berry	Kala jam	Syzygium cumini	Ht	5 (0.24)	6 (0.28)	6 (0.46)	3 (0.13)
Black babool	Babla	Acacia nilotica	T	n.a	13 (0.60)	4 (0.30)	3 (0.13)
Beachwood	Gamar	Gmelina arborea	T	n.a.	4 (0.19)	n.a.	2 (0.08)
Bur-flower tree	Kadam	Anthocephalus chinensis	T	3 (0.14)	7 (0.32)	6 (0.46)	2 (0.08)
Coconut	Narikel	Cocos nucifera	Ht	54 (2.59)	63 (2.92)	35 (2.65)	22 (0.92)
Custard apple	Ata	Anona squamosa	Ht	1 (0.05)	6 (0.28)	4 (0.30)	2 (0.08)
Carambola	Kamranga	Averrhoa carambola	Ht	n.a.	4 (0.19)	1 (0.08)	2 (0.08)
Dates	Khejur	Phoenix sylvestris	Ht	19 (0.91)	36 (1.67)	40 (3.03)	49 (2.05)
Dita bark	Chatim	Alstonia scholaris	T	n.a.	11 (0.51)	8 (0.61)	3 (0.13)
Eucalyptus	Eucalyptus	Eucalyptus camaldulensis	T	5 (0.24)	17 (0.79)	11 (0.83)	63 (2.64)
Grape fruit	Jambura	Citrus grandis	Ht	4 (0.19)	5 (0.23)	4 (0.30)	4 (0.17)
Guava	Pyara	Psidium guajava	Hp	40 (1.92)	23 (1.07)	31 (2.35)	49 (2.05)
Henna	Mehedi	Lawsonia inermis	Mp	n.a.	1 (0.05)	n.a.	2 (0.08)
Hog plum	Amra	Spondias dulcis	Hp	16 (0.77)	14 (0.65)	4 (0.30)	17 (0.71)
Indian ash tree	Jhiga	Lannea coromandelica	T	57 (2.73)	17 (0.79)	12 (0.91)	17 (0.71)
Indian rosewood	Sissoo	Dalbergia sissoo	T	4 (0.19)	28 (1.30)	11 (0.83)	16 (0.67)
Indian gooseberry	Amloki	Phyllanthus embelica	Ht	2 (0.10)	4 (0.19)	4 (0.30)	4 (0.17)
Indian jujube	Boroi	Zizyphus mauritiana	Ht	24 (1.15)	12 (0.56)	12 (0.91)	8 (0.33)
Jackfruit	Kathal	Artocarpus heterophyllus	Ht	168 (8.05)	85 (3.94)	48 (3.64)	359 (15.02)
Litchi	Litchu	Litchi chinensis	Hp	2 (0.10)	4 (0.19)	8 (0.61)	3 (0.13)
Lebbek tree	Kala koroi	Albizia lebbeck	T	30 (1.44)	12 (0.56)	7 (0.53)	48 (2.01)
Lemon	Lebu	Citrus limon	Hp	14 (0.67)	29 (1.35)	20 (1.52)	134 (5.61)
Mahogany	Mahogoni	Swietenia mahogani	T	118 (5.66)	128 (5.94)	110 (8.34)	91 (3.81)
Mango	Aam	Mangifera indica	Ht	111 (5.32)	90 (4.18)	96 (7.29)	78 (3.26)
Margosa tree	Bokain	Melia azedarach	T	2 (0.10)	1 (0.05)	3 (0.23)	2 (0.08)
Neem tree	Neem	Azadirachta indica	Mp	8 (0.38)	11 (0.51)	7 (0.53)	12 (0.50)
Olive	Jolpai	Olea europea	Ht	14 (0.67)	8 (0.37)	9 (0.68)	8 (0.33)
Palm	Taal	Palmyra palm	Ht	13 (0.62)	15 (0.70)	15 (1.14)	7 (0.29)
Pithraj	Pitraj	Aphanamixis polystachya	T	4 (0.19)	10 (0.46)	2 (0.15)	n.a.
Pomegranate	Dalim	Puncia granatum	Ht	13 (0.62)	13 (0.60)	4 (0.30)	3 (0.13)
Rain tree	koroi	Albizia saman	T	19 (0.91)	13 (0.60)	100 (7.58)	34 (1.42)
Red silk cotton tree	Shimul	Bombax ceiba	T	7 (0.34)	11 (0.51)	3 (0.23)	5 (0.21)
Sal	Sal	Shorea robusta	T	n.a.	29 (1.35)	n.a	198 (8.28)
Star apple	Jamrul	Syzygium samarengense	Ht	n.a.	4 (0.19)	5 (0.38)	2 (0.08)
Teak	Shegun	Tectona grandis	T	51 (2.44)	115 (5.34)	43 (3.26)	134 (5.61)
Tamarind	Tetul	Tamarindus indica	Ht	6 (0.29)	12 (0.56)	7 (0.53)	6 (0.25)
White siris	Shada koroi	Albizzia procera	T	8 (0.38)	5 (0.23)	1 (0.08)	13 (0.54)
White marudah	Arjun	Terminalia arjuna	Mp	6 (0.29)	7 (0.32)	3 (0.23)	13 (0.54)
Yellow teak	Haldu	Adina cordifolia	T	n.a.	10 (0.46)	n.a.	3 (0.13)
Vegetables
Banana	Kola	Musa sapientum	Hp	113 (5.42)	436 (20.23)	108 (8.19)	192 (8.03)
Brinjal	Begun	Solanum melongena	V	8 (0.38)	11 (0.51)	5 (0.38)	9 (0.38)
Bitter gourd	Korola	Momordica charantia	V	5 (0.24)	10 (0.46)	7 (0.53)	9 (0.38)
Chili	Morich	Capsicum species	V	4 (0.19)	6 (0.28)	8 (0.61)	4 (0.17)
Cauliflower	Fulkopi	Brassica oleracea var botrytis	V	3 (0.14)	6 (0.28)	3 (0.23)	2 (0.08)
Cucumber	Shosha	Cucumis sativus	V	3 (0.14)	3 (0.14)	4 (0.30)	6 (0.25)
Cucumber (short)	Khira	Cucumis anguina	V	3 (0.14)	3 (0.14)	1 (0.08)	3 (0.13)
Cabbage	Bandhakopi	Brassica oleracea var capitata	V	4 (0.19)	3 (0.14)	3 (0.23)	4 (0.17)
Carrot	Gajor	Daucus carota	V	1 (0.05)	5 (0.23)	3 (0.23)	2 (0.08)
Drumsticks	Shajina	Moringa oleifera	V	6 (0.29)	11 (0.51)	8 (0.61)	17 (0.71)
Elephant foot aroid	Olkochu	Amorphophallus campanulatus	V	3 (0.14)	8 (0.37)	1 (0.08)	8 (0.33)
Eddoe	Mukhikachu	Colocasia esculenta	V	2 (0.10)	3 (0.14)	4 (0.30)	2 (0.08)
Giant carandilla	Sheet lau	Passiflora quadrangularis	V	10 (0.48)	16 (0.74)	22 (1.67)	14 (0.59)
Gourd	Lau	Lagenaria siceraria	V	8 (0.38)	5 (0.23)	3 (0.23)	7 (0.29)
Giant taro	Mankachu	Alocasia macrorrhiza	V	3 (0.14)	3 (0.14)	6 (0.46)	4 (0.17)
Hyacinth bean	Sheem	Dolichos lablab	V	14 (0.67)	15 (0.70)	20 (1.52)	15 (0.63)
Indian spinach (green)	Puishak (sabuj)	Basella alba	V	4 (0.19)	7 (0.32)	7 (0.53)	5 (0.21)
Indian spinach (red)	Puishak (lal)	Basella rubra	V	1 (0.05)	4 (0.19)	4 (0.30)	5 (0.21)
Ivory gourd	Tala kuchi	Coccinea cordifolia	V	n.a.	2 (0.09)	2 (0.15)	7 (0.29)
Muskmelon	Banggi	Cucumis melo	Hp	n.a.	2 (0.09)	2 (0.15)	3 (0.13)
Oriental melon	Banggi	Cucumis melo	Hp	n.a.	3 (0.14)	1 (0.08)	6 (0.25)
Palwal	Potol	Trichosanthes dioica	V	5 (0.24)	10 (0.46)	9 (0.68)	8 (0.33)
Pineapple	Anarosh	Ananas comosus	Hp	1 (0.05)	75 (3.48)	5 (0.38)	70 (2.93)
Papaya	Pepe	Carica papaya	Hp	45 (2.16)	55 (2.55)	47 (3.56)	81 (3.39)
Potato	Alu	Solanum tuberosum	V	10 (0.48)	14 (0.65)	10 (0.76)	10 (0.42)
Radish	Mula	Raphanus sativus	V	5 (0.24)	12 (0.56)	5 (0.38)	10 (0.42)
Red amaranth	Lal shak	Amaranthus gangeticus	V	4 (0.19)	5 (0.23)	n.a.	3 (0.13)
Ribbed gourd	Jhingga	Luffa acutagula	V	4 (0.19)	7 (0.32)	8 (0.61)	8 (0.33)
Spinach	Palong shak	Spinacia oleracea	V	6 (0.29)	6 (0.28)	1 (0.08)	5 (0.21)
Sweet gourd	Misti kumda	Cucurbita maxima	V	9 (0.43)	9 (0.42)	6 (0.46)	10 (0.42)
String bean	Borboti	Vigna sesquipedalis	V	5 (0.24)	6 (0.28)	3 (0.23)	4 (0.17)
Snake gourd	Chichingga	Trichosanthes anguina	V	4 (0.19)	8 (0.37)	6 (0.46)	8 (0.33)
Sponge gourd	Dhundul	Luffa cylindrica	V	3 (0.14)	4 (0.19)	3 (0.23)	7 (0.29)
Tannia	Moulavikachu	Xanthosoma atrovirens	V	2 (0.10)	4 (0.19)	2 (0.15)	7 (0.29)
Tomato	Tomato	Lycopersicon esculentum	V	10 (0.48)	15 (0.70)	8 (0.61)	11 (0.46)
Teasel gourd	Kakrol	Momordica cochinchinensis	V	6 (0.29)	7 (0.32)	5 (0.38)	7 (0.29)
Water melon	Tormuj	Citrullis lanatus	Hp	7 (0.34)	4 (0.19)	5 (0.38)	6 (0.25)
Wax gourd	Chal kumra	Benincasa hispida	V	13 (0.62)	11 (0.51)	9 (0.68)	10 (0.42)
Total species total and their individuals (in parentheses)				70 (2086)	81 (2155)	76 (1319)	80 (2390)
Notes: n.a., not available.^aHt, horticultural tree species; Hp, horticultural plant; T, tree species; V, vegetables; Mp, medicinal plants.^bBh, Bhaluka; Fu, Fulbaria; Mu, Muktagacha; Ms, Mymensingh Sadar.^cFigures in parentheses indicate relative abundance in percentage.^dThis list does not include bamboo due to the lack of total count (number of bamboo counted as groves; not as individuals) although a number of common species are found in all the four study sites. This list does not include the grass and other shrubs growing in the homesteads due to the lack of time and also considering the point that these species are not directly contributing. Nevertheless, these are not planted and maintained by the homestead owners.