Human-Induced Secondary Succession in an Alpine Meadow of Central Himalaya, India

Rikhari, H. C.; Negi, G. C. S.; Ram, Jeet; Singh, Satya Prakash

doi:10.2307/1551474

Cited by 18 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…3), indicate a divergent pattern of secondary succession. This pattern of succession matches with the findings of several other studies (del Moral 1995;Ferweda 1987;Herben et al 1993;Rikhari et al 1993;Sarmiento et al 2003). All these studies indicated that surrounding vegetation plays an important role for the composition and structure of the mature vegetation.…”

Section: Diversity Patternsupporting

confidence: 91%

Temporal changes in species diversity and composition in abandoned fields in a trans-Himalayan landscape, Nepal

2008

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Secondary succession is an increasing phenomenon due to global changes in agriculture policies and practices. The empirical findings are biased towards the temperate zone. Abandonment of agriculture fields is less frequent in the subtropical and tropical zones where agriculture areas are, in general, expanding. But there are exceptions; a rapid rate of abandonment of agricultural fields have taken place in the arid trans-Himalayan region, due to today's globalization of economy. We analysed agriculture fields that were abandoned between 1950 and 2003 in a large u-valley in central Nepal (3400 m a.s.l.). The potential forest vegetation is dominated by Pinus wallichina and shrubs of junipers and cotoneaster species. We tested the intermediate richness hypothesis in relation to vegetation cover, soil development and whether old-field succession is convergent or divergent with species data from 242 1 m 2 plots in 5 age-classes. The main species compositional turnover expressed by Detrended Correspondence Analyses (DCA) correlated, as expected, with time after abandonment. Fields that were abandoned a long time ago are closer to forest at the periphery of the agricultural landscape. Moisture of the soil significantly increased with age of abandonment, but total vegetation cover and pH were negatively related to age. Beta diversity expressed in DCA SD-units showed an increasing trend with age of abandonment, supporting the divergence pattern in old-field succession. The reason why the succession is not converging may be due to browsing by domestic animals that prevent a closed canopy of pines and juniper to develop. There was a significant hump-shaped pattern in species richness along the temporal gradient, which agrees with the intermediate species-richness hypothesis. There was a rapid increase in species richness in plots close to the villages that were used for haymaking which increased the seed input significantly.

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Section: Diversity Patternsupporting

confidence: 91%

Temporal changes in species diversity and composition in abandoned fields in a trans-Himalayan landscape, Nepal

2008

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“…Grime (1979) gave alpine habitats as an example of a high-stress (S) habitat. In an alpine meadow, Rikhari et al (1993) found that the early stages of colonisation of bared sites contained species not found later in succession. The best example was Rumex nepalensis, dominant two years after disturbance, present until 15 years, but absent in 17-to 31-yr stands.…”

Section: Prediction Of C-s-r: Autosuccessionmentioning

confidence: 95%

C‐S‐R triangle theory: community‐level predictions, tests, evaluation of criticisms, and relation to other theories

Wilson¹,

Lee²

2000

Oikos

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Grime's C‐S‐R triangle theory has been discussed in plant ecology for two decades, but it has rarely been tested, and not often dispassionately evaluated. We consider the theory from a community viewpoint, and attempt to develop and test predictions for plant communities. C‐S‐R assumes that in high‐disturbance (ruderal, R) patches or habitats, competition will be absent, or low in intensity. Testing this is problematic because of the difficulty of defining the intensity of competition, and we could find no rigorous evidence to support or refute the prediction. The theory also implies that in high‐disturbance habitats there will be no difference in species composition between ‘competition’ and ‘stress’ sites, but from available evidence this does not seem to be true. C‐S‐R assumes that in stressful (S) habitats, competition will be low. This assumption is difficult to define or test, because of the overall difference in plant growth rate between habitats. A prediction from the theory is that in stressful habitats autosuccession should occur, i.e. that the climax species should regenerate directly, with no specialist secondary pioneer (R) species. There is some evidence that autosuccession occurs under the most extreme stresses of various types. Previous criticisms of C‐S‐R are evaluated. Only a few are considered valid, mainly those that emphasise that C‐S‐R theory is a considerable simplification of reality. Previous tests of C‐S‐R theory appear to be inconclusive. C‐S‐R theory is basically a combination of r/K theory and Leaf Amortisation theory. We conclude that there is limited support for the C‐S‐R theory. Whether the gain in generality that the theory offers justifies the loss via simplification that it involves is still an open question. As formulated, it has limited utility as a predictive model in community ecology. Yet, it is currently the most comprehensive and coherent theory for community ecology.

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“…Taken together, our results indicate that restoration of grasslands after agricultural exploitation can be rapid and follow predictable trajectories. This conclusion is a best‐case scenario for restoration but should be considered with two important caveats: first, successional rates in our study area appear to be faster than in some other grasslands, suggesting that bioregional differences in grasslands need to be explored more fully (Rikhari et al 1993, Foster and Tilman 2000). Second, meadows in the Qinghai‐Tibetan Plateau, as in much of the world, are quickly being degraded (Lü et al 2011, Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 83%

“…However, research in other grasslands has shown that successional processes can be much slower than reported here. In the Indian Himalayans, for example, Rikhari et al (1993) reported that meadows require 20–30 years for late‐ successional species to establish. Similarly, at the Cedar Creek LTER, USA, grasslands require over 30 years for late‐successional species to become abundant (Tilman 1994, Foster and Tilman 2000).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Community assembly along a successional gradient in sub‐alpine meadows of the Qinghai‐Tibetan Plateau, China

Zhang

Gilbert

Zhang

et al. 2012

Oikos

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Community assembly is a dynamic progression that reflects the interaction of several processes functioning at multiple scales. Understanding how these processes work in communities at different successional stages is important for identifying when regional or local processes are more important for community assembly, and for developing effective preservation and restoration strategies. We examined community assembly using a chronosequence of sub‐alpine meadows in Qinghai‐Tibetan Plateau that range from ‘natural’ (never farmed), to those that have been protected from agricultural exploitation for 1 to 10 years. We tested for shifts in species and traits among meadows and also for changes in environmental and spatial correlates of species distributions within meadows. We found that species richness increased and species composition returned to natural conditions within ten years of protection. These changes coincided with shifts in species traits; abundant species had high seed mass and specific leaf area in late‐successional meadows, whereas the opposite occurred in early‐successional meadows. Despite these shifts among meadows of different ages, spatial distributions of species within meadows did not change – when associated with abiotic variables, these spatial patterns reflected changes in soil pH and nitrogen. There was also no consistent change in the relative importance of environmental and spatial correlates of species distributions within meadows. These trends indicate that local processes of community assembly are similar within meadows even when species in those meadows differ. We conclude that successional change is a large‐scale process that alters the species pool and resulting suite of traits that are present within meadows. As a result, regional planning that incorporates successional age should be the focus for the conservation of diversity in this area. In contrast, local processes work within the constraints of the species pool set by successional age, producing consistent patterns within meadows of different ages.

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Human-Induced Secondary Succession in an Alpine Meadow of Central Himalaya, India

Cited by 18 publications

References 6 publications

Temporal changes in species diversity and composition in abandoned fields in a trans-Himalayan landscape, Nepal

Temporal changes in species diversity and composition in abandoned fields in a trans-Himalayan landscape, Nepal

C‐S‐R triangle theory: community‐level predictions, tests, evaluation of criticisms, and relation to other theories

Community assembly along a successional gradient in sub‐alpine meadows of the Qinghai‐Tibetan Plateau, China

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