Prioritization of habitats and communities for conservation in Cold Desert Biosphere Reserve, Trans Himalaya, India

Abstract

The rapid degradation of habitats and communities throughout the globe has necessitated the need for conservation to avoid biodiversity crisis. For framing conservation and management plan for flora of any region, it is very necessary to prioritize species of that region, their preferred habitats and communities with reliable information. In the present study, prioritization of habitats and communities has been done in the Cold Desert Biosphere Reserve. Ten habitats and 73 plant communities (45 shrubs and 28 herbs) distributed between 3,109 and 5,019 m were identified. Each habitat and community has been evaluated based on the ecological and socioeconomical parameters. Of the 10 habitats identified, the Moist alpine groove habitat showed highest conservation priority index (CPI), that is, 50 hence prioritized for conservation. The Ephedra gerardiana—Lonicera asperifolia mixed community showed highest CPI, that is, 62; followed by Hippophae rhamnoides ssp. turkestanica—Caragana versicolor—Ephedra intermedia mixed, Rosa webbiana—Ribes orientale mixed and Salix denticulata‐ H. rhamnoides ssp. turkestanica mixed (CPI: 60, each) communities. Regular monitoring of the prioritized habitats and communities has been suggested. Also, mass propagation of native, endemic, economically important and threatened species following biotechnological approaches and their plantation in the natural habitats of Spiti valley have been suggested. This would help in the management of habitats and communities in particular and cold desert ecosystem in general.

Understanding carnivore interactions in a cold arid trans‐Himalayan landscape: What drives co‐existence patterns within predator guild along varying resource gradients?

“…The entire Spiti Valley, a trans‐Himalayan high‐elevation landscape, is included in the Cold Desert Biosphere Reserve. (Sharma & Samant, 2019 ). This Pir Panjal rain shadow region is characterized by extreme climate and temperatures, ranging from brief, dry summers with intense sunlight (maximum temperature reaching 30°C) to long, windy, and freezing winters (lowest temperature reaching – 40°C at night) (Suryawanshi et al, 2014 ).…”

Floristic Diversity of the Himalaya in Relation to Climate Change: Status, Values and Conservation

“…Considering the richness of the biota, a Protected Area Network (PAN) has been established throughout the country and IHR, and most of the representative biodiversity rich area have been protected as Biosphere Reserves (BRs), National Parks (NPs) and Wildlife Sanctuaries (WS) to conserve the ecosystems, habitats and species, respectively (Rodgers and Panwar, 1988). At present, the IHR, represents 28 NPs, 99 WS, and 07 BRs covering a total geographical area of 51,899.239 km 2 excluding North East India (Mathur et al, 2000;Samant et al, 2002;Rana and Samant, 2009;Samant et al, 2012;Sharma and Samant, 2019). In addition to these, Sacred Groves, Ramsar Sites, Tiger Reserves, Reserve Forests, etc.…”

“…In the IHR, studies on the assessment, valuation and conservation prioritization of floristic diversity of the protected areas have been carried out by some workers (Dhar et al, 1997;Samant, 2004, 2014;Rana and Samant, 2009, Singh and Samant, 2010, Sharma and Samant, 2019, Devi et al, 2019. However, most of the protected areas are under explored or unexplored.…”