Assessing vegetation changes in timberline ecotone of Nanda Devi National Park, Uttarakhand

Bharti, Rupesh R.; Adhikari, Bhupendra Singh; Rawat, G. S.

doi:10.1016/j.jag.2011.09.018

Cited by 43 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 19 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Bharti et al (2012) used Landsat imagery and found an overall increase in the green biomass of treeline ecotone in Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve (Uttarakhand) during 1980- 2010, in particular of the subalpine forest's canopy, but no shift of the upper treeline. In contrast, two other studies in the same area reported globally exceptional and unprecedented treeline advances of more than 300 m in recent decades (Panigrahy et al, 2010;Singh et al, 2012); these results, however, have been criticized as unreliable due to methodological shortcomings (cf.…”

Section: Treeline Shiftsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do Himalayan treelines respond to recent climate change? An evaluation of sensitivity indicators

et al. 2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Climate warming is expected to induce treelines to advance to higher elevations. Empirical studies in diverse mountain ranges, however, give evidence of both advancing alpine treelines and rather insignificant responses. The inconsistency of findings suggests distinct differences in the sensitivity of global treelines to recent climate change. It is still unclear where Himalayan treeline ecotones are located along the response gradient from rapid dynamics to apparently complete inertia. This paper reviews the current state of knowledge regarding sensitivity and response of Himalayan treelines to climate warming, based on extensive field observations, published results in the widely scattered literature, and novel data from ongoing research of the present authors.Several sensitivity indicators such as treeline type, treeline form, seed-based regeneration, and growth patterns are evaluated. Since most Himalayan treelines are anthropogenically depressed, observed advances are largely the result of land use change. Near-natural treelines are usually krummholz treelines, which are relatively unresponsive to climate change. Nevertheless, intense recruitment of treeline trees suggests a great potential for future treeline advance. Competitive abilities of seedlings within krummholz thickets and dwarf scrub heaths will be a major source of variation in treeline dynamics. Tree growth-climate relationships show mature treeline trees to be responsive to temperature change, in particular in winter and pre-monsoon seasons. High pre-monsoon temperature trends will most likely drive tree growth performance in the western and central Himalaya. Ecological niche modelling suggests that bioclimatic conditions for a range expansion of treeline trees will be created during coming decades.

show abstract

Section: Treeline Shiftsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do Himalayan treelines respond to recent climate change? An evaluation of sensitivity indicators

et al. 2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Allen and Walsh, 1996;Hill et al, 2007), assessment of distribution change (e.g. Bharti et al, 2012;Luo and Dai, 2013;Mihai et al, 2017), and to better understand how environmental factors act to influence variation in treeline position and structure over differing geographic scales (Weiss et al, 2015).…”

Section: The Impact Of Treeline Advancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, others have raised concern that Landsat data may lack sufficient detail to detect subtle differences in the treeline that exist over a very short spatial scale (Bharti et al, 2012;Buchanan et al, 2015;Chen et al, 2015). Consequently, there is uncertainty over the ability of data from the Landsat archive to adequately characterise variation in treeline heterogeneity.…”

Section: Spatial Resolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Single characteristics such as canopy cover (Hill et al, 2007;Král, 2009), species (Bharti et al, 2012;Luo and Dai, 2013) or height (Mathisen et al, 2014) have been used as well as combinations of such characteristics to return structural classifications of the treeline (Table 1). The definition of treeline ecotone used requires careful consideration since the choices made can impact on any interpretation of the change estimated and the subsequent utility of distribution maps.…”

Section: Defining the Treelinementioning

confidence: 99%

“…In areas where mountain treelines have not advanced upward, forests have been shown to respond to climatic change through increased tree density below the upper tree limit or by lateral expansion across mountain slopes (e.g. Bharti et al, 2012;Klasner and Fagre, 2002). Consequently, when assessing mountain forest range shifts there is a need to identify both lateral and altitudinal movement in the treeline.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Integrating remote sensing and demography for more efficient and effective assessment of changing mountain forest distribution

Morley

Donoghue

Chen

et al. 2018

Ecological Informatics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Use policyThe full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. A B S T R A C TSpecies range shifts have been well studied in light of rising global temperatures and the role climate plays in restricting species distribution. In mountain regions, global trends show upward elevational shifts of altitudinal treelines. However, there is significant variation in response between geographic locations driven by climatic and habitat heterogeneity and biotic interactions. Accurate estimation of treeline shifts requires fine-scale patterns of forest structure to be discriminated across mountain ranges. Satellite remote sensing allows detailed information on forest structure to be extrapolated across mountain ranges, however, variation in methodology combined with a lack of information on accuracy and repeatability has led to high uncertainty in the utility of remotely sensed data in studies of mountain treelines. We unite three themes; suitability of remote sensing products, ecological relevance of classifications and effectiveness of the training and validation process in relation to the study of mountain treeline ecotones. We identify needs for further research comparing the utility of different remotely sensed data sets, better characterisation of treeline structure and incorporation of accuracy assessment. Collectively, the improvements we describe will significantly improve the utility of remote sensing by facilitating a more consistent approach to defining geographic variation in treeline structure, improving our ability to link processes from stand to regional scale and the accuracy of range shift assessments. Ultimately, this advance will enable better monitoring of mountain treeline shifts and estimation of the associated to biodiversity and ecosystem function.

show abstract

North Ethiopian Afro‐Alpine Tree Line Dynamics and Forest‐Cover Change Since the Early 20th Century

et al. 2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

High‐altitude forests are very important for local livelihood in the vulnerable environment of the densely populated tropical highlands. Humans need the ecosystem services of the forest and directly impact the forest through livestock herding, fire, and wood harvesting. Nevertheless, temperature‐sensitive tree lines in the tropics are scarcely investigated in comparison with higher northern latitudes. In this study, the Erica arborea L. tree line is studied in a tropical mountain in the North Ethiopian highlands: Lib Amba of the Abune Yosef Mountain range (12°04′N, 39°22′E, 3993 m asl). The present tree line and forest cover was recorded by high‐resolution satellite imagery from Google Maps and field data (2010–2013), while historical forest cover was studied from aerial photographs (1965–1982) and repeat photography (1917–2013). The aerial and satellite images were orthorectified and classified in forest/non‐forest binary maps. The binary forest layers were used to detect forest‐cover change and tree line dynamics by image differencing between the three time layers (1965–1982–2010). These maps and a terrestrial photograph indicate two periods of deforestation (1917–1965 and 1982–2013), whereas the forest cover was stable between 1965 and 1982. Deforestation was especially severe (with 63%) between 1982 and 2010, associated with a population increase from 77 to 153 inhabitants per square km. There is significant evidence that the elevation of the E. arborea L. tree line increased from 7 to 15 vertical meters between 1965 and 2010, in an area with decreasing anthropozoogenic pressure. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

show abstract

Assessing vegetation changes in timberline ecotone of Nanda Devi National Park, Uttarakhand

Cited by 43 publications

References 19 publications

Do Himalayan treelines respond to recent climate change? An evaluation of sensitivity indicators

Do Himalayan treelines respond to recent climate change? An evaluation of sensitivity indicators

Integrating remote sensing and demography for more efficient and effective assessment of changing mountain forest distribution

North Ethiopian Afro‐Alpine Tree Line Dynamics and Forest‐Cover Change Since the Early 20th Century

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About