scholarly journals Plant species richness and composition in a trans-Himalayan inner valley of Manang district, central Nepal

1970 ◽  
Vol 4 (6) ◽  
pp. 57-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohan P Panthi ◽  
Ram P Chaudhary ◽  
Ole R Vetaas
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Physical Environment ◽  
Important Determinant ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Plant Species Richness ◽  
Nepal Himalaya ◽  
The North ◽  
Central Nepal ◽  
Dry Valley ◽  
North And South

Species richness normally decreases with increasing elevation. However, a hump and a plateau have been documented in species richness curves in the Nepal Himalaya. We sampled species richness and composition in 80 plots located in the north and south aspects of the dry valley of Manang, a trans-Himalayan inner valley of Nepal, between 3000 and 4000 masl. We used regression and ordination to relate species richness and composition to the physical environment. Pinus wallichiana, Juniperus indica, Abies spectabilis, Betula utilis and Salix species are the dominant tree species. B. utilis is found only in the moist north aspect and Juniperus species are more common in the dry south aspect. Moisture is the most important determinant of species richness and composition. At the local level, our results show a plateau in species richness at the elevation range of 3000–4000 masl. There were significantly more species on the north aspect than on the south. Key words: aspect, altitude, beta-diversity, ordination, species richness, soil moisture Himalayan Journal of Sciences Vol.4(6) 2007 p.57-64

scholarly journals Distribution pattern and species richness of Liliaceae in the Nepal Himalaya

Our Nature ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hum Kala Rana ◽  
Santosh Kumar Rana ◽  
Suresh Kumar Ghimire
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Potential Distribution ◽  
Plant Conservation ◽  
Management Program ◽  
Nepal Himalaya ◽  
Creative Commons ◽  
Mountainous Regions ◽  
Central Nepal ◽  
Richness Pattern ◽  
High Species Richness

The most important aspect of plant conservation is to predict the potential distribution and its richness in response to climate change. Contributing to the management program, this study aimed to predict the distribution and richness pattern of Liliaceae in Nepal. The BIOCLIM in DIVA GIS 7.5 model based on distribution records of 19 species belonging to three subfamilies of Liliaceae (Lilioideae, Streptopoideae and Calochortoideae) and 19 climatic variables (derived from Worldclim), revealed that Lilioideae and Streptopoideae are potentially distributed in most of the hilly and mountainous regions of Nepal; whereas Calochortoideae mostly in Eastern and very scanty in Central Nepal. Lilioideae is projected to have high species richness in Central and Western Nepal as compared to other subfamilies. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Landscape-scale patterns in plant species richness along an arctic river

1997 ◽  
Vol 75 (10) ◽  
pp. 1748-1765 ◽  
Author(s):  
William A. Gould ◽  
Marilyn D. Walker
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Soil Ph ◽  
Environmental Heterogeneity ◽  
Landscape Heterogeneity ◽  
Vascular Plant ◽  
Plant Species Richness ◽  
The North ◽  
Environmental Controls ◽  
July Temperature

We examined relationships of vascular plant species richness with mean July temperature and components of landscape heterogeneity to determine the relative influence of temperature and the physical landscape on plant richness along the north-flowing Hood River in the Northwest Territories of Canada. We also examined variations in the composition of the flora to better understand the relationship between riparian gradients, environmental controls, environmental heterogeneity, and species richness. The vascular flora for the area studied includes 210 species. Richness at 17 sites along the river ranged from 69 to 109 species within 2400-m2 sample areas. Sites with the lowest richness were those in the upper reaches of the river, with richness generally increasing downstream. Variation in richness along the river is correlated with increasing environmental heterogeneity (r2 = 0.598, P = 0.0003), calculated as an index summarizing the range of site-level variation in a set of components including substrate type and texture, topographic variation (slope and aspect), relative surface area, substrate moisture, and soil pH. The most significant component of the index is an increase in the range of soil pH. Soil pH tends to increase downstream, and average site soil pH is the single best predictor of species richness (r2 = 0.857, P < 0.0001). The primary cause of higher soil pH is the presence of uplifted marine sediments, and tills derived from nonacidic Precambrian rock common along the lower river. Key words: species richness, arctic, riparian, pH, mean July temperature, environmental heterogeneity.

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
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Indicator Species ◽  
Vascular Plant ◽  
Elevational Gradient ◽  
Plant Species Richness ◽  
Anthropogenic Fire ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Central Nepal ◽  
Ethnobotanical Uses ◽  
The Himalaya

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.

scholarly journals Regeneration of Pinus wallichiana AB Jackson in a trans-Himalayan dry valley of north-central Nepal

2011 ◽  
Vol 6 (8) ◽  
pp. 19-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Balkrishna Ghimire ◽  
Kumar P Mainali ◽  
Hari Datta Lekhak ◽  
Ram Prasad Chaudhary ◽  
Amal Kumar Ghimeray
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Canopy Cover ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Forest Composition ◽  
North Central ◽  
Central Nepal ◽  
Pinus Wallichiana ◽  
Dry Valley ◽  
North And South

We studied the elevational pattern of forest composition and regeneration of the subalpine conifer tree species Pinus wallichiana in Manang, a trans-Himalayan dry valley in north-central Nepal. Thirty-five quadrats (10 m × 10 m) were laid between 3300 and 4000 masl on both north- and south-facing slopes. We measured diameter at breast height (DBH) of each mature individual of all tree species (DBH ≥10 cm), and recorded the number of seedlings (DBH <10 cm, height <30 cm) and saplings (DBH <10 cm, height >30 cm). We also measured soil moisture and soil pH, estimated canopy cover, and recorded slope and altitude in each quadrat. For all species together and for several species individually, tree density, seedling density, sapling density and tree basal area were found to decrease with elevation on both north and south aspects. This trend is largely explained by the progressively harsher environment at higher elevations. The north-facing slopes in our study area have denser forests than the south-facing slopes, the density of all size classes (seedling, sapling and mature plants) and basal area being greater on the northern aspects. These aspect-wide differences are attributable to the stark difference in soil moisture between northern and southern aspects, which is in turn due to the difference in insolation. Irrespective of elevation and aspect, all the forests studied are regenerating, as indicated by inverse J-shaped density-diameter curves. The elevational pattern of seedling and sapling abundance is explained only by elevation. Whereas other variables (e.g., canopy) are considered to have an important influence on seed germination and seedling establishment, they turn out not to be significant predictors of density of seedlings and saplings. This failure to identify a relationship is probably due to our use of non-parametric test (tree regression analysis) that we used to establish the relationship between density and its potential explanatory variables or due to our selection of 1 standard error rule yielding sub-optimal models for regression trees. Key words: density-diameter curve; regeneration; seedling; sapling; altitude; canopy; Manang Valley DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/hjs.v6i8.1798 Himalayan Journal of Sciences Vol.6 Issue 8 2010 pp.19-26

scholarly journals Geology, geochemistry, and radiochronology of the Kathmandu and Gosainkund Crystalline nappes, central Nepal Himalaya

2001 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Santa Man Rai
Keyword(s):  
Granulite Facies ◽  
Tectonic Block ◽  
Lesser Himalaya ◽  
Main Central Thrust ◽  
Nepal Himalaya ◽  
Magmatic Origin ◽  
The North ◽  
Multidisciplinary Study ◽  
Central Nepal ◽  
Augen Gneiss

A multidisciplinary study was carried out in the Lesser Himalaya (LH), the Kathmandu Crystalline Nappe (KCN) and the Gosainkund Crystalline Nappe (GCN) in central Nepal Himalaya. Two principal deformations are recorded in both the crystalline nappes and the Lesser Himalaya: ductile, syn-MCTor syn-MT metamorphic deformation marked by microstructures (stretching lineation, S-C structures, and isoclinal folding) and post-MCT/or post-MT metamorphic deformation recorded by a major EW-directed Likhu Khola anticline and by NNE-SSW-directed folds. The Upper Lesser Himalayan rocks close to the Main Central Thrust (MCT) record syn-MCT metamorphic conditions at 750 MPa and 566 °C. The rocks of the KCN record P-T condition from 900 to 720 MPa and 700 to 484 °C, while the GCN rocks were equilibrated at upper amphibolite- to granulite-facies conditions from 890 to 583 MPa and 754 to 588 °C. The P-T conditions and field observations exhibit well-preserved inverted metamorphism between the Upper Lesser Himalaya and the Gosainkund Crystalline Nappe. The augen gneisses from the GCN yielding 486±9Ma U-Pb zircon age and the granites of similar age in the KCN bear similar petrographic and geochemical characteristics and suggest a similar magmatic origin although they belong to different tectonic units. The chemical analyses of the Proterozoic Ulleri augen gneiss of the LH and the granites of the KCN fall within the same compositional field, indicating a magmatic origin of these augen gneisses. 40Ar/39Ar datings on muscovite indicate cooling ages younging systematically from south to north: 22 to 14 Ma in the KCN, 16 to 5 Ma in the GCN, and 12 to 6 Ma in the LH. This systematic younging of muscovite ages does not have any correlation with the present elevation, lithology and tectonic unit and is interpreted as a result of the exhumation of the rock units on the Main Himalayan Thrust (MHT) ramp situated to the north of Kathmandu Valley. Both the KCN and the GCN record a late emplacement history, but the KCN was exhumed earlier than the GCN. The two crystalline nappes presently form a single tectonic block, and the combined uplift of the two nappes occurs on a ramp of a major decollement developed in the upper part of the Indian crust.

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