scholarly journals Anthropogenic fire, vegetation structure and ethnobotanical uses in an alpine shrubland of Nepal’s Himalaya

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 201
Author(s):  
Asha Paudel ◽  
Scott H. Markwith ◽  
Katie Konchar ◽  
Mani Shrestha ◽  
Suresh K. Ghimire

Alpine vegetation of the Himalaya is used as food, medicine or fodder, and is commonly managed with fire by agropastoralists. Prescribed fire can have positive effects on rangeland biodiversity, but studies evaluating its effects in alpine shrublands are scarce. Our objective was to examine the effects of anthropogenic fire on biophysical characteristics, species richness, abundance and composition in an alpine shrubland with socioeconomic value to local peoples in Langtang National Park in central Nepal. We surveyed biophysical variables, vascular plant species richness and composition along three transects at ascending elevations, and conducted interviews with local people and park officials on the use of fire in the region. We found 69 species of vascular plants in 89 plots; species richness was greater in burned plots and with increasing elevation, with 13 species unique to burned plots. We identified 14 indicator species in both burned and unburned plots; eight of them were Himalayan endemics. In burned plots, the indicator species were predominantly grasses and perennial forbs with ethnobotanical uses. This is the first detailed study on alpine shrubland anthropogenic fire in the Nepalese Himalaya. Burning may, at least temporarily, replace woody with more palatable herbaceous species, and weaken the elevational gradient of the shrubland.

Web Ecology ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sølvi Wehn ◽  
Knut Anders Hovstad ◽  
Line Johansen

Abstract. Land use change can affect biodiversity, and this has an impact on ecosystem services (ESs), but the relationships between biodiversity and ESs are complex and poorly understood. Biodiversity is declining due to the abandonment of extensively grazed semi-natural grasslands. We therefore aim to explore relationships between biodiversity and ESs provided by extensively managed semi-natural grasslands. Focusing on vascular plant species richness, as well as the ESs fodder quantity, quality, and stability, allergy control, climate regulation, nutrient cycling, pollination, and aesthetic appreciation, we carried out botanical field surveys of 28 paired extensively grazed and abandoned semi-natural grassland plots, with four subplots of 4 m2 in each plot. The management of the semi-natural grasslands is and has been at low intensity. We calculated the influence of abandonment on the ES indicators, measured the correlation between the biodiversity measure of vascular plant species richness and ES indicators, and finally determined how the relationships between plant species richness and the ES indicators were affected by the cessation of the extensive management. ES indicators are often, but not always, positively correlated with species richness. Cessation of extensive grazing has both negative and positive effects on ES indicators but the relationships between species richness and ES indicators are often different in extensively managed and abandoned semi-natural grasslands. The relationships between species richness and ES indicators are less pronounced in the extensively managed semi-natural grassland than for the abandoned. One possible reason for this outcome is high functional redundancy in the extensively managed semi-natural grasslands.


2017 ◽  
Vol 105 (5) ◽  
pp. 1199-1209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marion Boutin ◽  
Emmanuel Corcket ◽  
Didier Alard ◽  
Luis Villar ◽  
Juan-José Jiménez ◽  
...  

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