Growth and Coppicing Ability of the Critically Endangered Agarwood (Aquilaria Malaccensis Lam.) Tree in Monoculture and Polyculture in North East India

ABSTRACT

Agarwood (Aquilaria malaccensis Lam.) (Thymelaeaceae) is valued in many cultures because of its distinctive fragrance and its use in incense, perfumery, and traditional medicine. Large-scale harvesting from natural populations caused rapid depletion of the species in the wild, and the species is now listed as “Critically Endangered” and almost extinct in the wild. The promotion of this species in agroforestry systems may pave the way for its conservation. The present study aimed to quantify the growth and coppicing ability of agarwood under monoculture and polyculture stands. Monoculture stands aged more than 20 years, and stem girth (1.37 m above ground) of 60–70 cm had the highest growth increment of 3.73 cm yr⁻¹. Monoculture stands (>10 years old) also recorded higher number of coppicing stocks than polyculture stands. The highest coppice growth increment (4.07 cm yr⁻¹) was recorded in the 70–80 cm stem girth in monoculture stands. Based on the results, we recommend the promotion of agarwood trees with good coppice management in forestry programs to conserve the species while also meeting the economic needs of rural communities.

KEYWORDS:

• Agarwood
• smallholder
• diameter increment
• coppice
• conservation
• homegardens

Acknowledgments

The authors are thankful to the smallholder agarwood managers for allowing and helping first author (P. C. Nath) in the field study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/10549811.2022.2123823