Treeline dynamics with climate change at Central Nepal Himalaya

Gaire, Narayan Prasad; Koirala, Madan; Bhuju, Dinesh Raj; Borgaonkar, H. P.

doi:10.5194/cpd-9-5941-2013

Cited by 37 publications

(63 citation statements)

References 66 publications

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“…The most recent Fifth Assessment Report confirms this range for scenarios without immediate strong controls on greenhouse gas emissions (Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) 8.5, 6.0, 4.5), though it is noted that sharp reductions in global emissions beginning before 2020 (RCP 2.6) could keep regional warming below 2 • C [50,51]. In Nepal, warming over the past few decades has been more pronounced at higher altitudes [52], and relatively lower in the Terai, Siwaliks, and Middle mountain regions [13,43]. Precipitation data from Nepal show few consistent trends.…”

Section: Future Climatic Trendsmentioning

confidence: 76%

“…These three studies are among the only publications documenting population level changes in tree line dynamics of the region (i.e., tree growth, recruitment rates, variation in onset and duration of growing season, and senescence). Reliable, long-term meteorological records are required to calibrate field-collected tree ring data, which are integral to studying tree line dynamics [52]. The paucity of these data limit dendroclimatic research in this region.…”

Section: Organismmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Gaire et al [52,102] examined growth of alpine tree species in the Himalayan region that are strongly limited by low temperatures. They recorded growth and regeneration changes in response to climatic changes, in addition to observing a shift in tree line position and range limits at the species level.…”

Section: Organismmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several studies [4,15,99,100] used habitat suitability and species distribution models inferred with the general-purpose machine-learning method MaxEnt [101]. Other studies [18,52,102,103] implemented correlative analyses and spatial simulation models to assess the impact of climatic factors, such as temperature and precipitation, on species distributions or range limits of the focal taxa. All species-level studies in our review reported a significant change in the distribution and/or range limits of their respective focal taxa (Table 3).…”

Section: Organismmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity in Nepal: Current Knowledge, Lacunae, and Opportunities

Bhattacharjee

Anadón

Lohman

et al. 2017

Climate

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Nepal has an extreme altitudinal range from 60-8850 m with heterogeneous topography and distinct climatic zones. The country is considered a biodiversity hotspot, with nearly a quarter of the land area located in protected areas. Nepal and the surrounding Himalayan region are particularly vulnerable to climate change because of their abrupt ecological and climatic transitions. Tens of millions of people rely on the region's ecosystem services, and observed and modeled warming trends predict increased climate extremes in the Himalayas. To study the ecological impacts of climate change in Nepal and inform adaptation planning, we review the literature on past, present, and predicted future climatic changes and their impacts on ecological diversity in Nepal. We found few studies focusing on organisms, while research on species and communities was more common. Most studies document or predict species range shifts and changes in community composition. Results of these few investigations highlight major lacunae in research regarding the effects of changing climate on species comprising the Himalayan biota. Further empirical work is needed at all levels of biological organization to build on information regarding direct ecological impacts of climatic changes in the region. Countries face an ever-increasing threat of climate change, and Nepal has strong physiographic, elevational, and climatic gradients that could provide a useful model for studying the effects of climate change on a mountainous, and highly biodiverse, area.

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Section: Future Climatic Trendsmentioning

confidence: 76%

Section: Organismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Organismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Organismmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

The Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity in Nepal: Current Knowledge, Lacunae, and Opportunities

Bhattacharjee

Anadón

Lohman

et al. 2017

Climate

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“…The increase of such unwanted species can be related to different factors. Some species that were located at the adjacent lower elevation might have moved upslope due to an increase in temperature and associated range shift (Klanderud and Birks, 2003;Gaire et al, 2014;Zomer et al 2014) or some shrub species might have encroached the alpine rangelands due to an increase in drought, cessation of fire and range abandonment (Brandt et al, 2013). Some ruderal species such as Iris goniocarpa and Euphorbia stracheyi might have benefited due to increased nitrogen in highly -grazed patches (Bauer, 1990;Aryal, 2010).…”

Section: Effects Of Climate Change On Agro-pastoralismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceptions of agro-pastoralists towards the change in temperature and precipitation in the trans-Himalayan regions of Nepal

Aryal

Ghimire

Dhakal³

et al. 2017

Banko

Self Cite

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Climate change has emerged as a global concern despite its differential impacts across geographical, social and economic gradients. Understanding perceptions of local communities towards climate change is important as it advances the knowledge, and is the driver of autonomous adaptation and behavioral responses. The livelihood of the agro-pastoralists in the trans-Himalayan regions of Nepal depends on the natural resources, and is highly sensitive to the change in climatic variables. Although there are indications of pronounced climate change in terms of their important variables in the high-altitude compared to the lowland of Nepal, there is limited information on how communities living in those areas have perceived to the change. Realizing the significance of such information, perceptions of the agro-pastoralists towards the change in climatic variables were studied in the two important high-and trans-Himalayan districts-Dolpa and Mustang. The results of the study revealed that the perceptions of the agro-pastoralists correspond with the increasing trend of temperature and the changing (both increasing and decreasing) trends of precipitation. Moreover, the agropastoralists have perceived the decrease in snowfall and reported appearance of new forage and pasture species in rangelands. The findings will be useful to understand about the climate change in the high-and trans-Himalayan region, and to devise adaptation strategies in these areas. (MEA, 2005). Small island, least-developed and mountainous countries are more vulnerable to climate change (Klein, 2009). Due to its geo-political conditions and its potential impact on the economy, ecology, and environment, climate change is a major concern in the Himalayas (Liu and Rasul, 2007). The rate of increase in temperature is higher than the global average in the region, and the form of precipitation will be changed in the higher Himalayas where more rainfall will be expected than the snowfall (IPCC, 2007).Nepal is both the mountainous and the least developed country of the Himalayan region which is socio-politically, geographically and economically fragile. Climate change has emerged as a systematic threat compounding with other threats challenging the livelihood of people and sustainability of the traditional systems. The trends of temperature suggest that warming is more pronounced in the high-altitude areas than in the lower elevations of Nepal, and the nature of precipitation has also been changing (NAPA, 2010;Shrestha and Aryal, 2011). Previous studies (Gentle and Maraseni, 2012;Aryal et al., 2014a;Macchi et al., 2014) suggest that the climate change has affected the livelihood of the people in the mountainous areas of Himalayas. But, people living with high-poverty in the region have limited capacity to adapt with the climate change.Over two million Nepalese depend upon climate sensitive sectors like agriculture and forestry for their livelihood (Garg et al., 2007) 21Banko Janakari, Vol. 27, No. 1 22 be a greater impact over the natural and human systems o...

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Contrasting responses to climate change at Himalayan treelines revealed by population demographics of two dominant species

Mainali

Shrestha

Sharma

et al. 2020

Ecology and Evolution

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Alpine treelines are expected to shift upward due to recent climate change. However, interpretation of changes in montane systems has been problematic because effects of climate change are frequently confounded with those of land use changes. The eastern Himalaya, particularly Langtang National Park, Central Nepal, has been relatively undisturbed for centuries and thus presents an opportunity for studying climate change impacts on alpine treeline uncontaminated by potential confounding factors. We studied two dominant species, Abies spectabilis (AS) and Rhododendron campanulatum (RC), above and below the treeline on two mountains. We constructed 13 transects, each spanning up to 400 m in elevation, in which we recorded height and state (dead or alive) of all trees, as well as slope, aspect, canopy density, and measures of anthropogenic and animal disturbance. All size classes of RC plants had lower mortality above treeline than below it, and young RC plants (<2 m tall) were at higher density above treeline than below. AS shows little evidence of a position change from the historic treeline, with a sudden extreme drop in density above treeline compared to below. Recruitment, as measured by size–class distribution, was greater above treeline than below for both species but AS is confined to ~25 m above treeline whereas RC is luxuriantly growing up to 200 m above treeline. Synthesis. Evidence suggests that the elevational limits of RC have shifted upward both because (a) young plants above treeline benefited from facilitation of recruitment by surrounding vegetation, allowing upward expansion of recruitment, and (b) temperature amelioration to mature plants increased adult survival. We predict that the current pure stand of RC growing above treeline will be colonized by AS that will, in turn, outshade and eventually relegate RC to be a minor component of the community, as is the current situation below the treeline.

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Treeline dynamics with climate change at Central Nepal Himalaya

Cited by 37 publications

References 66 publications

The Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity in Nepal: Current Knowledge, Lacunae, and Opportunities

The Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity in Nepal: Current Knowledge, Lacunae, and Opportunities

Perceptions of agro-pastoralists towards the change in temperature and precipitation in the trans-Himalayan regions of Nepal

Contrasting responses to climate change at Himalayan treelines revealed by population demographics of two dominant species

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