India to Conduct Study on Climate Change Impact on Western Himalayas’ Forests
Text of article by Archana Jyoti by Indian news agency PTI
New Delhi, 2 December: To assess the impact of climate change on the ecological boundaries in the Western Himalayas, the government is conducting a study of the timberline marking the upper limit of the region’s forest vegetation.
“Basic aim is to establish baseline information and predict future changes in the zone in the event of climate changes,” P.R. Sinha, director of Wildlife Institute India (WII), which is conducting the study, told PTI here.
Sinha said, “Also, besides updating our current understanding of timberline ecology and collect baseline information for future monitoring, the study is expected to provide some guidelines for sustainable use of resources by the local inhabitants.”
Since surveys of high elevation freezing sites in the region are logistically difficult, remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) will be used extensively during the study spread over four years.
“The timberline varies between 3,300 – 3,600 metre high area in the Western and 3,600 – 4,000 metre in the Eastern Himalaya and represents an eco-tone between the sub-alpine and alpine zones,” WII professor, habitat ecology Gopal.S. Rawat explained.
He added that the mean summer temperature in the region does not exceed six degree Celsius and a slight change in the atmospheric temperature due to global warming can have strong influence on the vegetation of sub-alpine forests and shift in the ecosystem boundaries.
“The spatio-temporal changes over last 20 years would be assessed through remote sensing and GIS, which would enable us to document the possible effects of climate change on the shifting of timberline with special reference to floral and faunal assemblages vis-a-vis resource utilization pattern,” Rawat added.
Three locations have already been identified in the high altitude zone including the flower of valley and a protected area, which have minimal human intervention, exhibiting good natural regeneration and recovery of timberline eco-tone.
“In another patch, we will artificially induce the temperature to study the changes in the region in the event of climate changes when the temperature is expected to rise by two percent,” Rawat said, adding in the event of climate change the timberline will be shifted effecting the habitat and species of the area.
Although, several studies have been conducted on the forest ecosystems and alpine meadows of Western Himalaya, the timberline eco-tone has not received adequate attention so far, Rawat said.
In the Western Himalaya the sub-alpine forests are dominated by Kharsu oak, Silver fir and high altitude maple, while the characteristic species of Krummholz formations are high altitude birch and Rhododendron campanulatum along with a large number of herbaceous species.
This region is home to several species of flora and fauna, including threatened medicinal plants such as Taxus Wallichiana, Podophyllum hexandrum, Skimmea laureola, Valeriana wallichii and Polygonatum verticellatum besides, Himalayan musk deer, Himalayan tahr, and Himalayan black bear.
Originally published by PTI news agency, New Delhi, in English 1651 02 Dec 07.
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