Abstract
This study was carried out in the timberline zone of Tungnath, Chopta region of the Chamoli District in India at eight altitudinal zones from 2,500 to 3,200 m, where the regeneration of Brown Oak was found to be very low. The data were obtained during the rainy season (August-September, 2016) by making counts of mature trees, saplings and seedlings in survey plots (50 × 50 m) at each of the eight altitudes. The results show a low regeneration of Brown Oak (Quercus semecarpifolia Sm.). Three of the eight elevation zones (38%) were categorized as having fair regeneration, four (50 %) were categorized as poor, and one site had no regeneration. However, at some elevations, there were substantial numbers of seedlings (such as the highest density of 350,000 ha-1 was at an altitude of 2,800 m). This indicates that at this geographic region of Chamoli, where there is increasing annual temperatures and evidence of reduced precipitation, seedlings (though sometimes abundant) fail to survive and mature into saplings; thus, creating a threat to the survival of the Brown Oak in the near future unless remedial action is taken to ensure its conservation. Key words: Biogeography, climate change, ecology of Tungnath forests, human livelihood, seedling survival, tree conservation.
Highlights
Across the Indian Himalayan region, over 35 species of Oak (Quercus spp.) are reported (Negi and Naithani, 1995)
Given the importance of this species, and other oak species in this region, additional attention has been given to documenting the regeneration capacity of the trees in high altitude forests of the Himalayan region
Given the very low densities of saplings across all altitudinal zones, no further statistical analyses were made with this data. Overall, these data indicate that the densities of seedlings are not significantly related to the densities of mature, acorn-bearing trees in these eight elevation zones in the Chamoli District; and this suggests that other factors such as animal predation, environmental stress and climatic forcing functions may account for some of the poor regeneration in the region
Summary
Across the Indian Himalayan region, over 35 species of Oak (Quercus spp.) are reported (Negi and Naithani, 1995). Quercus semecarpifolia, which represents the climax community, forms extensive forests in the high-altitude zones of Western Himalaya. Quercus semecarpifolia is a multipurpose tree used to provide fuelwood, fodder, agriculture implements and tannin. The species is considered to be one of the oldest plants in the region (Shrestha, 2003), which has been over exploited for centuries in the Himalaya (Singh et al, 2011). Given the importance of this species, and other oak species in this region, additional attention has been given to documenting the regeneration capacity of the trees in high altitude forests of the Himalayan region.
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