Responses of Montane Forest to Climate Variability in the Central Himalayas of Nepal

Mainali, Janardan; All, John; Jha, Pramod Kumar; Bhuju, Dinesh Raj

doi:10.1659/mrd-journal-d-13-00101.1

Cited by 32 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 67 publications

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“…When NDVI was assessed on a site basis, 70% of the variation in NDVI values at the Subalpine site could be accounted for based on a positive relationship to both precipitation and ET ref . Such results would support a positive effect of warming on the overall growth, health and greenness at the higher elevation site as inferred from higher NDVI values [52,[59][60][61][62]. In an ET study [52] conducted in the Sierra Nevada mountain range of CA, USA, peak ET values in the montane region that were not constrained by climate at higher and lower elevations were correlated with NDVI.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 56%

Assessing Near Surface Hydrologic Processes and Plant Response over a 1600 m Mountain Valley Gradient in the Great Basin, NV, U.S.A.

Devitt

Bird

Lyles

et al. 2018

Water

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This study investigated near surface hydrologic processes and plant response over a 1600 m mountain-valley gradient located in the Great Basin of North America (Nevada, U.S.A.) as part of a long-term climate assessment study. The goal was to assess shifts in precipitation, soil water status and associated drainage with elevation and how this influenced evapotranspiration and plant cover/health estimated by a satellite-derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), all to better understand how water is partitioned in a mountain valley system. Data were acquired during a three-year period from meteorological stations located in five plant communities ranging in elevation from 1756 m (salt desert shrubland zone) to 3355 m (subalpine zone). The analysis also included groundwater depths measured at the Salt Desert Shrub West site, mine water flow near the Pinyon-Juniper West site and drainage estimates using drainage flux meters at the four higher elevation sites. Annual precipitation increased with elevation in a linear fashion (R 2 = 0.93, p < 0.001) with an average increase of 2.9 cm for every 100 m in elevation. Reference evapotranspiration (ET ref) declined in a highly linear fashion with elevation (R 2 = 0.95, p < 0.001) with an average 4.0 cm decline for every 100 m rise in elevation. Drainage occurred only at the Montane West and Subalpine West sites and not at the lower elevations. No drainage occurred after Julian day 160. Growing degree days were found to be negatively associated with the time of peak drainage (R 2 = 0.97, p < 0.001), the date drainage first occurred (R 2 = 0.90, p < 0.001), drainage duration (R 2 = 0.79, p < 0.001) and total drainage volume (R 2 = 0.59, p < 0.001). It was estimated that 27% of precipitation at the Montane West site (years 1, 2 and 3) and 66 % at the Subalpine West site (40% without year 1) contributed to drainage at the local site level, indicating possible strong recharge contribution from the higher elevation plant communities. Percent vegetation cover and ET ref accounted for 94% of the variation in NDVI and 90% of the variation in ET totals when data from all sites were combined. Such data will be extremely valuable to collect and compare over time to assess shifts associated with potential climate warming and/or basin water diversion.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 56%

Assessing Near Surface Hydrologic Processes and Plant Response over a 1600 m Mountain Valley Gradient in the Great Basin, NV, U.S.A.

Devitt

Bird

Lyles

et al. 2018

Water

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“…The Himalayan mountain range are considered to be particularly threatened by the on-going effects of climate change (Singh and Hietala 2014), with anticipated and observed impacts on glaciers (Bolch et al 2012;Kumar et al 2015), water resources (Palazzoli et al 2015;Li et al 2016), forests (Wani et al 2013;Mainali et al 2015;Manish et al 2016), agricultural systems (Deb et al 2015;Jethi et al 2016), and socio-economic structures (Hoy et al 2016;Hussain et al 2016). It faces a number of serious environmental challenges, such as disastrous events in the form of landslides, earthquakes, and flash floods (Kala 2014), or even climate change-related impacts disturbing the socio-ecological systems in the region (Aryal et al 2014;Xu and Grumbine 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Capturing forest dependency in the central Himalayan region: Variations between Oak (Quercus spp.) and Pine (Pinus spp.) dominated forest landscapes

Chakraborty

Joshi

Sachdeva

2017

Ambio

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Our study explores the nexus between forests and local communities through participatory assessments and household surveys in the central Himalayan region. Forest dependency was compared among villages surrounded by oak-dominated forests (n = 8) and pine-dominated forests (n = 9). Both quantitative and qualitative analyses indicate variations in the degree of dependency based on proximity to nearest forest type. Households near oak-dominated forests were more dependent on forests (83.8%) compared to households near pine-dominated forests (69.1%). Forest dependency is mainly subsistence-oriented for meeting basic household requirements. Livestock population, cultivated land per household, and non-usage of alternative fuels are the major explanatory drivers of forest dependency. Our findings can help decision and policy makers to establish nested governance mechanisms encouraging prioritized site-specific conservation options among forest-adjacent households. Additionally, income diversification with respect to alternate livelihood sources, institutional reforms, and infrastructure facilities can reduce forest dependency, thereby, allowing sustainable forest management.

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“…Limited research has been carried out on NDVI trends specifically in Nepal. [27] This research, therefore, has two main objectives. First, we describe trends in NDVI in Nepal by elevation and season based on a long-term remote-sensing data product.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mapping and Attributing Normalized Difference Vegetation Index Trends for Nepal

Krakauer¹,

Lakhankar²,

Anadón³

2017

Preprint

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Responses of Montane Forest to Climate Variability in the Central Himalayas of Nepal

Abstract: BioOne Complete (complete.BioOne.org) is a full-text database of 200 subscribed and open-access titles in the biological, ecological, and environmental sciences published by nonprofit societies, associations, museums, institutions, and presses.

Cited by 32 publications

References 67 publications

Assessing Near Surface Hydrologic Processes and Plant Response over a 1600 m Mountain Valley Gradient in the Great Basin, NV, U.S.A.

Assessing Near Surface Hydrologic Processes and Plant Response over a 1600 m Mountain Valley Gradient in the Great Basin, NV, U.S.A.

Capturing forest dependency in the central Himalayan region: Variations between Oak (Quercus spp.) and Pine (Pinus spp.) dominated forest landscapes

Mapping and Attributing Normalized Difference Vegetation Index Trends for Nepal

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