Abstract
With main purpose of developing a coherent baseline information of timberline forests of Sikkim, Eastern Himalaya, we investigated, (i) forest structure and composition, (ii) regeneration status of dominant timberline tree species between timberline and treeline, (iii) influence of environmental variables in species composition, and (iv) relationship between environmental variables and ecological attributes. The study was conducted along the timberline stretch of Dzongri landscape nested within the Khangchendzonga National Park (UNESCO’s World Heritage Site, 2016), a core zone of Khangchendzonga Biosphere Reserve (in UNESCO WNBRs, 2018), Sikkim, India. We employed quadrat method to sample 9 contiguous sites to capture all possible variations in timberline composition. Transect method was used to study the regeneration of woody taxa between timberline to treeline. In total, 20 woody species belonging to 10 genera and 6 families were recorded. Among these, Abies densa, Rhododendron lanatum and Sorbus microphylla exhibited higher dominance, comprising of 50% of the total importance value index (IVI) weightage. Betula utilis the common treeline species in much of the western and central parts of Himalaya was absent here. Tree density in studied timberline was significantly higher than its western Himalayan counterparts of Indian Himalayan region. Environmental variables viz., elevation, slope, and humus were observed determinants of species composition across the study area. The species dominance correlated negatively (p<0.01; n = 9) with species diversity and richness. We observed an irregular spatial pattern of timberline across the 9 study sites, and the extent of timberline elements (seedling; sapling; live tree or dead tree) ranged between 5.3m to 187.7m higher than the current timberline at different sites. The present trends suggest that upslope advancement is unlikely to occur in near future, while treeline densification is anticipated. Further investigations are suggested to develop a holistic understating of these timberline patterns across the Indian Himalayan region.
Highlights
Ecotones are the transition zones between the adjacent ecological systems or vegetation types [1,2]
The canopy tree layer was dominated by Abies densa and undercanopy layer consisted of Sorbus microphylla, Rhododendron lanatum and Rhododendron wightii, while Rosa sericea, Ribes glaciale and Juniperus recurva were dominant in the shrub layer (S2 Table)
In several sites understory tree species were more prominent than A. densa or were sole tree species
Summary
Ecotones are the transition zones between the adjacent ecological systems or vegetation types [1,2]. Understanding of the environmental factors responsible for determining the geographical and ecological extent of species is important [6]. Temperature is a principal influencing factor for prompting snowmelt and the length of growing season which are critical in determining the nature of plant communities in the alpine timberline ecotones [13, 14]. It directly affects the productivity, composition, and diversity of an ecosystem [15]. The four types of upper timberline boundaries were recognized by Plesnık [19], i.e., climatic, orographic, avalanche and edaphic. These timberline boundaries were more precisely described by Jodłowski [20] as, Orographic, Morphological, Edaphic, Mechanical and anthropogenic
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