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Growth of Rhododendron and Rhododendron as source of Energy


Laying a transact to estimate biomass
A typical camp of Cordyceps collecto
It was May 25, 2010, I landed in Bagdogra international airport (india) on my way back from USA for my graduate thesis research. Upon arriving in Phuentsholing I saw my daughter waiting for me and my wife to reach. It was one of the best-“test” days which I dare not to forget.  My happy day was short lived as I had to leave to Thimphu the very next day as I was informed that Cordyceps (see "Floral and Faunal gallery" for photo) collection has already begun and only 15 days was left to legally harvest the much coveted medicinal mushroom. On 26th I drove to Thimphu (as I left my car in Samtse with my Ajang and Ani) before leaving to the U.S. By 11 AM on 27th I was done with whatever I needed to do in Thimphu and moved to Bumthang. I spent a day in Bumthang shopping whatever I might need in the harsh alpine environment.
On 29 May, 2010, I was on “DRUK 11” towards Chajeyna to study “Fuelwood consumption and production in alpine Bhutan”. My first two days of hike was not much of a problem but on the 3rd day, when I was over 4500 mtrs, I was gasping for air. I think I suffered by not letting my body to acclimatize to the elevation after moving from Missoula, USA which is barely at 900 mtrs above sea level.  After toiling hard I was finally in the camps of the Cordyceps collectors, where I spent two days of my research familiarizing with the collectors and observing their daily schedule.
Rhododendron sample
People would start their day at 3.00 AM everyday by preparing breakfast and pack lunches. After which they would hike for another hour and a half to collect Cordyceps. I was wondering why they can’t camp in areas where Cordyceps grows and enquired to find answer. The answer I received was quite interesting. I was told that, they were afraid of the poachers across the border that generally out-number the Bhutanese collectors and I also realized after some time that Chajeyna was the last available source of fuelwood.
The species of Rhododendron which was growing in Chajeyna was Rhododendron aeruginosum, which was being exploited at a larger extent by the collectors. On an effort to study the annual biomass accumulation by each Rhododendron I carried out destructive sampling in which I felled about 25 stands of the shrub. I carried ten samples of Rhododendron in an effort to study the growth ring and age in the laboratory.
Cordyceps collectors carrying harvested Rhododendron wood
The age analysis and annual diameter increment of the R. aeruginosum startled me. The annual diameter increment was 0.6 ± 0.04 mm per year and it took 161 years to achieve diameter of just 8.1 cm.
I displayed all the ten samples during the nomadic festival (March, 2011) in Nasiphel, Bumthang, so as to create awareness. I made people to guess the age of the wood sample and disclosed the age. This discovery questioned themselves on the future fuelwood source while harvesting Cordyceps in the mountains. If the current rate of fuelwood consumption continues in Chajeyna, I estimated that the area will be devoid of woody perennial in less than 13 years of time.
Note: If anyone is interested to read my thesis, please contact me.
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