The changing Himalayan landscape: pine-oak forest dynamics and the supply of ecosystem services

Naudiyal, Niyati; Schmerbeck, Joachim

doi:10.1007/s11676-016-0338-7

Cited by 44 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…They were, however, recognized for their importance to local wellbeing. All of these ecosystem services were considered by residents and managers alike to be an important reward of a well-maintained forest ecosystem, a perception that is consistent with positive attitudes by local communities on the regulating services from oak forests of Nepal [60]. The most important reward is the conservation of soil and water, also highlighted by other studies [61,62].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 69%

“…The regeneration failure is a considerable threat to the future of these oak forests and the important ecosystem services they provide. Their decline could directly impact the wellbeing of temperate farmers [43,49,53,60,[66][67][68]. We call for a detailed study on the ecology and restoration of the oak forests in Bhutan and the transmission of ecological knowledge to local communities.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Socio-Cultural Values of Ecosystem Services from Oak Forests in the Eastern Himalaya

et al. 2019

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Identification and assessment of socio-cultural values of ecosystem services are increasingly important for the planning and management of forest resources. Key information necessary is how different forest user groups perceive and prioritize different ecosystem services based on their local setting. We assessed the socio-cultural values of ecosystem services of high-altitude oak forests in Western Bhutan using participatory approaches with two important forest users: local communities and forest experts. We found that these forests serve as a pool of 22 ecosystem services under four MEA categories of provisioning (9), regulating (8), supporting (2), and cultural (3) services. Fresh water was unanimously identified as the most valuable service, as well as the most vulnerable, by both the groups. The priorities of local communities inclined towards provisioning and cultural services due to their dependence on these services for their livelihood and wellbeing. Forest experts’ priorities were more evenly spread over three categories of services: provisioning, regulating, and supporting services, reflecting their broader interest in resource management, biodiversity conservation, and climate change mitigation. Several regulating and supporting services were not easily identified by many villagers, suggesting that bridging the priorities of local interests with broader national forestry goals may require public partnerships and integrated decision-making about the entire suite of ecosystem services. Several management interventions proposed by the groups were presented for consideration by local users, scientists, and policy makers. For all ongoing and future ecosystem service assessments, we recommend the integration of socio-cultural values with biophysical and monetary assessments to fully value the benefits from the high-altitude oak forests.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 69%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Socio-Cultural Values of Ecosystem Services from Oak Forests in the Eastern Himalaya

et al. 2019

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“…Often, local communities are involved in burning off the understory of forests to promote the growth of fresh fodder in the region (Supplementary information S3). Such claims can be supported through previous literature in the central Himalayan region (Naudiyal and Schmerbeck 2016).…”

Section: Forest Institutional Dynamics In Uttarakhand Indiasupporting

confidence: 67%

Capturing forest dependency in the central Himalayan region: Variations between Oak (Quercus spp.) and Pine (Pinus spp.) dominated forest landscapes

Chakraborty

Joshi

Sachdeva

2017

Ambio

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Our study explores the nexus between forests and local communities through participatory assessments and household surveys in the central Himalayan region. Forest dependency was compared among villages surrounded by oak-dominated forests (n = 8) and pine-dominated forests (n = 9). Both quantitative and qualitative analyses indicate variations in the degree of dependency based on proximity to nearest forest type. Households near oak-dominated forests were more dependent on forests (83.8%) compared to households near pine-dominated forests (69.1%). Forest dependency is mainly subsistence-oriented for meeting basic household requirements. Livestock population, cultivated land per household, and non-usage of alternative fuels are the major explanatory drivers of forest dependency. Our findings can help decision and policy makers to establish nested governance mechanisms encouraging prioritized site-specific conservation options among forest-adjacent households. Additionally, income diversification with respect to alternate livelihood sources, institutional reforms, and infrastructure facilities can reduce forest dependency, thereby, allowing sustainable forest management.

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“…This could be associated to high canopy cover in the forested area, low soil bulk density, high litter content at the forest floor resulting in increased water holding capacity. Similar results were reported by Naudiyal and Schmerbeck [32] and Bargali et al [4], where varied moisture content values in different land uses and associated it to high litter produced in the forested ecosystem impacting on soil particle size distribution, thereby increasing the moisture holding capacity. Soils under permanent cultivation and the degraded land recorded lower levels of soil organic carbon (OC) and general nutrient status, with the exception of soil pH and available phosphorus which recorded higher values in the cropped land than soils under both forested and degraded land.…”

Section: Impact Of Land Uses On Soil Physicochemical Propertiessupporting

confidence: 87%

Impact of Land Use Types and Seasonal Variations on Soil Physico-chemical Properties and Microbial Biomass Dynamics in a Tropical Climate, Ghana

Agbeshie

Abugre

Adjei

et al. 2020

AIR

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Land use conversion significantly impact on sensitive soil quality parameters such as microbial biomass and soil microbial quotient. Therefore, soil microbial biomass and physicochemical properties were compared under three different land use systems namely agricultural land, degraded mine land and an adjacent natural forest in the Newmont Gold Ghana Limited concessional areas, Kenyasi, Ghana. In our field experimentation, an area of 300 m2 was demarcated in each land use type for soil sampling. In each of the land use type, we collected soil 5 samples at a depth of 0-15 cm in both the dry and wet seasons respectively. Parameters we measured included soil bulk density, pH, particle size distribution, organic carbon, total nitrogen, available phosphorus, microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen, and moisture content. Our results revealed that land use type significantly impacted on soil microbial biomass and physicochemical properties. Microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen was higher in the forested land compared to the agricultural land and degraded mine land, which was due to relatively higher amounts of litter inputs. Microbial biomass carbon decreased between 20.23 - 88.36% when land use changed from forested land to other land uses. Significant positive correlation was observed between soil microbial biomass and water content, soil organic carbon, phosphorus, clay, nitrogen. Generally, seasonal variation in our study area did not influence soil physical and chemical properties, however, it significantly affected microbial biomass indices. Findings of our study further revealed the importance of forested area in the maintenance of soil quality parameters.

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The changing Himalayan landscape: pine-oak forest dynamics and the supply of ecosystem services

Cited by 44 publications

References 61 publications

Socio-Cultural Values of Ecosystem Services from Oak Forests in the Eastern Himalaya

Socio-Cultural Values of Ecosystem Services from Oak Forests in the Eastern Himalaya

Capturing forest dependency in the central Himalayan region: Variations between Oak (Quercus spp.) and Pine (Pinus spp.) dominated forest landscapes

Impact of Land Use Types and Seasonal Variations on Soil Physico-chemical Properties and Microbial Biomass Dynamics in a Tropical Climate, Ghana

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