Implications of tree species–environment relationships for the responsiveness of Himalayan krummholz treelines to climate change

Climate warming is expected to advance treelines to higher elevations. However, empirical studies in diverse mountain ranges give evidence of both advancing alpine treelines as well as rather insignificant responses. In this context, we aim at investigating the sensitivity and responsiveness of the near-natural treeline ecotone in Rolwaling Himal, Nepal, to climate warming. We analysed population densities of tree species along the treeline ecotone from closed forest stands via the krummholz belt to alpine dwarf shrub heaths (3700-4200 m) at 50 plots in 2013 and 2014. We quantified species - environment relationships, i.e. the change of environmental conditions (e.g., nutrient and thermal deficits, plant interactions) across the ecotone by means of redundancy analyses, variation partitioning and distance-based Moran's eigenvector maps. In particular, we focus on explaining the high competitiveness of Rhododendron campanulatum forming a dense krummholz belt and on the implications for the responsiveness of Himalayan krummholz treelines to climate change. Results indicate that treeline trees in the ecotone show species-specific responses to the influence of environmental parameters, and that juvenile and adult tree responses are modulated by environmental constraints in differing intensity. Moreover, the species - environment relationships suggest that the investigated krummholz belt will largely prevent the upward migration of other tree species and thus constrain the future response of Himalayan krummholz treelines to climate warming.     

Response of biomass spatial pattern of alpine vegetation to climate change in permafrost region of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau,China

Alpine ecosystems in permafrost region are extremely sensitive to climate changes.To determine spatial pattern variations in alpine meadow and alpine steppe biomass dynamics in the permafrost region of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau,China,calibrated with historical datasets of above-ground biomass production within the permafrost region's two main ecosystems,an ecosystem-biomass model was developed by employing empirical spatialdistribution models of the study region's precipitation,air temperature and soil temperature.This model was then successfully used to simulate the spatio-temporal variations in annual alpine ecosystem biomass production under climate change.For a 0.44°C decade-1 rise in air temperature,the model predicted that the biomasses of alpine meadow and alpine steppe remained roughly the same if annual precipitation increased by 8 mm per decade-1,but the biomasses were decreased by 2.7% and 2.4%,respectively if precipitation was constant.For a 2.2°C decade-1 rise in air temperature coupled with a 12 mm decade-1 rise in precipitation,the model predicted that the biomass of alpine meadow was unchanged or slightly increased,while that of alpine steppe was increased by 5.2%.However,in the absence of any rise in precipitation,the model predicted 6.8% and 4.6% declines in alpine meadow and alpine steppe biomasses,respectively.The response of alpine steppe biomass to the rising air temperatures and precipitation was significantly lesser and greater,respectively than that of alpine meadow biomass.A better understanding of the difference in alpine ecosystem biomass production under climate change is greatly significant with respect to the influence of climate change on the carbon and water cycles in the permafrost regions of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.     

Multi-model assessment of glacio-hydrological changes in central Karakoram,Pakistan

The multi-model assessment of glaciohydrological regimes can enhance our understanding of glacier response to climate change. This improved knowledge can uplift our computing abilities to estimate the contributing components of the river discharge. This study examined and compared the hydrological responses in the glacier-dominated Shigar River basin(SRB) under various climatic scenarios using a semi-distributed Modified Positive Degree Day Model(MPDDM) and a distributed Glacio-hydrological Degree-day Model(GDM). Both glacio-hydrological models were calibrated and validated against the observed hydro-meteorological data from 1988-1992 and 1993-1997. Temperature and precipitation data from Shigar and Skardu meteorological stations were used along with field estimated degree-day factor, temperature, and precipitation gradients. The results from both models indicate that the snow and ice melt are vital contributors to sustain river flow in the catchment. However, MPDDM estimated 68% of rain and baseflow contribution to annual river runoff despite low precipitation during the summer monsoon, while GDM estimated 14% rain and baseflow contribution. Likewise, MPDDM calculated 32%, and GDM generated 86% of the annual river runoff from snow and ice melt. MPDDM simulated river discharge with 0.86 and 0.78 NSE for calibration and validation, respectively. Similarly, GDM simulated river discharge with improved accuracy of 0.87 for calibration and 0.84 NSE for the validation period. The snow and ice melt is significant in sustaining river flow in the SRB, and substantial changes in melt characteristics of snow and ice are expected to have severe consequences on seasonal water availability. Based on the sensitivity analysis, both models' outputs are highly sensitive to the variation in temperature. Furthermore, compared to MPDDM, GDM simulated considerable variation in the river discharge in climate scenarios, RCP4.5 and 8.5, mainly due to the higher sensitivity of GDM model outputs to temperature change. The integration of an updated melt module and two reservoir baseflow module in GDM is anticipated to advance the representation of hydrological components, unlike one reservoir baseflow module used separately in MPDDM. The restructured melt and baseflow modules in GDM have fundamentally enriched our perception of glacio-hydrological dynamics in the catchment.     

Impacts of warming on root biomass allocation in alpine steppe on the north Tibetan Plateau

Biomass is an important component of global carbon cycling and is vulnerable to climate change. Previous studies have mainly focused on the responses of aboveground biomass and phenology to warming, while studies of root architecture and of root biomass allocation between coarse and fine roots have been scarcely reported in grassland ecosystems. We conducted an open-top-chamber warming experiment to investigate the effect of potential warming on root biomass and root allocation in alpine steppe on the north Tibetan Plateau. The results showed that Stipa purpurea had significantly higher total root length, root surface area and tips than Carex moocroftii. However,there were no differences in total root volume, mean diameter and forks for the two species. Warming significantly increased total root biomass(27.60%), root biomass at 0–10 cm depth(27.84%) and coarse root biomass(diameter 0.20 mm, 57.68%) in the growing season(August). However, warming had no significant influence on root biomass in the non-growing season(April). Root biomass showed clear seasonalvariations: total root biomass, root biomass at 0–10 cm depth and coarse root biomass significantly increased in the growing season. The increase in total root biomass was due to the enhancement of root biomass at 0–10 cm depth, to which the increase of coarse root biomass made a great contribution. This research is of significance for understanding biomass allocation, carbon cycling and biological adaptability in alpine grassland ecosystems under future climate change.     

Response of snow hydrological processes to a changing climate during 1961 to 2016 in the headwater of Irtysh River Basin,Chinese Altai Mountains

With changing climatic conditions and snow cover regime, regional hydrological cycle for a snowy basin will change and further available surface water resources will be redistributed. Assessing snow meltwater effect on runoff is the key to water safety, under climate warming and fast social-economic developing status. In this study, stable isotopic technology was utilized to analyze the snow meltwater effect on regional hydrological processes, and to declare the response of snow hydrology to climate change and snow cover regime, together with longterm meteorological and hydrological observations, in the headwater of Irtysh River, Chinese Altai Mountains during 1961-2015. The average δ~(18) O values of rainfall, snowfall, meltwater, groundwater and river water for 2014–2015 hydrological year were-10.9‰,-22.3‰,-21.7‰,-15.7‰ and-16.0‰, respectively.The results from stable isotopes, snow melting observation and remote sensing indicated that the meltwater effect on hydrological processes in Kayiertesi River Basin mainly occurred during snowmelt supplying period from April to June. The contribution of meltwater to runoff reached 58.1% during this period, but rainfall, meltwater and groundwater supplied 49.1%, 36.9% and 14.0% of water resource to annual runoff, respectively. With rising air temperature and increasing snowfall in cold season, the snow water equivalent(SWE) had an increasing trend but the snow cover duration declined by about one month including 13-day delay of the first day and 17-day advancement of the end day during 1961–2016. Increase in SWE provided more available water resource. However, variations in snow cover timing had resulted in redistribution of surface water resource, represented by an increase of discharge percentage in April and May, and a decline in Juneand July. This trend of snow hydrology will render a deficit of water resource in June and July when the water resource demand is high for agricultural irrigation and industrial manufacture.     

Effect of snow-cover duration on plant species diversity of alpine meadows on the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Although snow cover plays an important role in structuring plant diversity in the alpine zone, there are few studies on the relationship between snow cover and species diversity of alpine meadows on the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. To assess the effect of snow cover on plant species diversity of alpine meadows, we used ten parallel transects of 60 m × 1 m for this study and described the changes in species diversity and composition associated with snow depth. With the division of snow depth into six classes, the highest species richness （S） and species diversity （H′） occurred with an intermediate snow depth, i.e., class Ⅲ and class Ⅳ, showing a unimodal curve with the increase in snow depth. The relationship between snow depth and plant diversity （both richness and Shannon index） could be depicted by quadratic equations. There was no evident relationship between diversity （both S and H′） and soil water content, which implied that other more important factors influenced species diversity. The patterns of diversity found in our study were largely attributed to freeze-thaw alteration, length of growing season and disturbances of livestock grazing. Furthermore, snow depth affected species composition, as evaluated by the Sorensen＇s index of similarity. In addition, almost all species limited to one snow depth class were found only in class Ⅲand class Ⅳ, indicating that intermediate snow depth was suitable for the survival and growth of many alpine species.     

Response of ecosystem respiration to experimental warming and clipping at daily time scale in an alpine meadow of tibet

The alpine meadow,as one of the typical vegetation types on the Tibetan Plateau,is one of the most sensitive terrestrial ecosystems to climate warming.However,how climate warming affects the carbon cycling of the alpine meadow on the Tibetan Plateau is not very clear.A field experiment under controlled experimental warming and clipping conditions was conducted in an alpine meadow on the Northern Tibetan Plateau since July 2008.Open top chambers(OTCs) were used to simulate climate warming.The main objective of this study was to examine the responses of ecosystem respiration(R eco) and its temperature sensitivity to experimental warming and clipping at daily time scale.Therefore,we measured R eco once or twice a month from July to September in 2010,from June to September in 2011 and from August to September in 2012.Air temperature dominated daily variation of Reco whether or not experimental warming and clipping were present.Air temperature was exponentially correlated with R eco and it could significantly explain 58～96% variation of R eco at daily time scale.Experimental warming and clipping decreased daily mean R eco by 5.8～37.7% and-11.9～23.0%,respectively,although not all these changes were significant.Experimental warming tended to decrease the temperature sensitivity of R eco,whereas clipping tended to increase the temperature sensitivity of R eco at daily time scale.Our findings suggest that R eco was mainly controlled by air temperature and may acclimate to climate warming due to its lower temperature sensitivity under experimental warming at daily time scale.     

Clipping Alters the Response of Biomass Production to Experimental Warming: A Case Study in an Alpine Meadow on the Tibetan Plateau,China

Predicting how human activity will influence the response of alpine grasslands to future warming has many uncertainties.In this study, a field experiment with controlled warming and clipping was conducted in an alpine meadow at three elevations(4313 m, 4513 m and 4693 m) in Northern Tibet to test the hypothesis that clipping would alter warming effect on biomass production.Open top chambers(OTCs) were used to increase temperature since July,2008 and the OTCs increased air temperature by approximately 0.9o C ~ 1.8o C during the growing in2012.Clipping was conducted three times one year during growing season and the aboveground parts of all live plants were clipped to approximately 0.01 m in height using scissors since 2009.Gross primary production(GPP) was calculated from the Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer GPP algorithm and aboveground plant production was estimated using the surface-measured normalized difference vegetation index in 2012.Warming decreased the GPP, aboveground biomass(AGB) and aboveground net primary production(ANPP) at all three elevations when clipping was not applied.In contrast, warming increased AGB at all three elevations, GPP at the two lower elevations and ANPP at the two higher elevations when clipping was applied.These findings show that clipping reduced the negative effect of warming on GPP, AGB and ANPP, suggesting that clipping may reduce the effect of climate warming on GPP, AGB and ANPP in alpine meadows on the Tibetan Plateau, and therefore, may be a viable strategy for mitigating the effects of climate change on grazing and animal husbandry on the Tibetan Plateau.     

Contemporary climatic change over the qinghai-xizang plateau and its response to the green-house effect

The knowledge of contemporary climatic change over the Qinghai-Xizang (Tibet) Plateau (QXP) has been inadequate for a long time due to lack of enough observational data. In this paper, on the basis of monthly temperature and precipitation data in 1961–1990 from 48 stations on the QXP, the temperature data are extended backward to 1901 with an empirical orthogonal function (EOF) method, microscopic characteristics of contemporary climatic change over the QXP are analyzed, and the response of the plateau climate to global warming is discussed in combination with atmospheric general circulation model (GCM) outputs. The results show that the plateau climate, as a whole, has been warming since the early part of this century, that the precipitation has generally been increasing during the recent 30 years, and that these climatic trends seem to be related to the enhanced green-house effect induced by increasing CO₂ concentration in the atmosphere. This work is supported by the National and CAS (the Chinese Academy of Sciences) Tibet Research Project.     

Decadal cimatic variations indicated by dulan tree-ring and comparison with other proxy data in China of the last 2000 years

Based on high-resolution tree-ring data from Dulan area of Qinghai Province, five spells have been divided: the warm period before 230’s A. D., the cold period between 240’s A. D. and 800’s A. D., the significantly warm period between 810’s A. D. and 1070’s, i. e. “Medieval Warm Period”, the cold period including the “Little Ice Age” 1420’ – 1870’s and the warming period since 1880’s. All the eleven coldest or warmest decades and several great abrupt changes took place before the Middle Ages, indicating that climatic system operated in great instability during the period 150’s – 1100’s A. D., Comparison of the tree-ring data with other temperature proxy data from East China, Guliya ice core as well as the south of Qinghai-Xizang Plateau shows that such great climatic events as Eastern Han warm period between the beginning of the 1st century and the previous fifty years of the third century, the cold period covering the span of the Wei, the Jin, and the Southern and Northern dynasties, the well-known “Medieval Warm Period” as well as the “Little Ice Age” appeared in these series such as East China and Dulan area. Only the first two climatic events were recorded conspicuously in Guliya ice core while the “Medieval Warm Period” and “Little Ice Age” is far weaker. Also, the well-defined “Medieval Warm Period” didn’t occurred in the south of Qinghai-Xizang Plateau. The warming since the 20th century is the warmest in the last 2000 years Guliya ice core, the second in Dulan area and East China, but it scarcely seems pronounced in the eastern part of Qinghai-Xizang Plateau. Foundation item: Under the auspices of the projects of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (KZ951-A1-204-02 and KZ951-A1 402-03). Biography: YANG Bao(1971–), male, a native of Yanggao County, Shanxi Province, Ph. D. His research interestinclude global change.     

An Assessment of Snow Cover Duration Variability Among Three Basins of Songhua River in Northeast China Using Binary Decision Tree

The dynamics of snow cover differs greatly from basin to basin in the Songhua River of Northeast China, which is attributable to the differences in the topographic shift as well as changes in the vegetation and climate since the hydrological year (HY) 2003. Daily and flexible multi-day combinations from the HY 2003 to 2014 were produced using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) from Terra and Aqua remote sensing satellites for the snow cover products in the three basins including the Nenjiang River Basin (NJ), Downstream Songhua River Basin (SD) and Upstream Songhua River Basin (SU). Snow cover duration (SCD) was derived from flexible multiday combination each year. The results showed that SCD was significantly associated with elevation, and higher SCD values were found out in the mountainous areas. Further, the average SCDs of NJ, SU and SD basins were 69.43, 98.14 and 88.84 d with an annual growth of 1.36, 2.04 and 2.71 d, respectively. Binary decision tree was used to analyze the nonlinear relationships between SCD and six impact factors, which were successfully applied to simulate the spatial distribution of depth and water equivalent of snow. The impact factors included three topographic factors (elevation, aspect and slope), two climatic factors (precipitation and air temperature) and one vegetation index (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, NDVI). By treating yearly SCD values as dependent variables and six climatic factors as independent variables, six binary decision trees were built through the combination classification and regression tree (CART) with and without the consideration of climate effect. The results from the model show that elevation, precipitation and air temperature are the three most influential factors, among which air temperature is the most important and ranks first in two of the three studied basins. It is suggested that SCD in the mountainous areas might be more sensitive to climate warming, since precipitation and air temperature are the major factors controlling the persistence of snow cover in the mountainous areas.     

Avalanche activity and characteristics of its triggering factors in the western Tianshan Mountains,China

Snow avalanche is a serious threat to the safety of roads in alpine mountains. In the western Tianshan Mountains, large scale avalanches occur every year and affect road safety. There is an urgent need to identify the characteristics of triggering factors for avalanche activity in this region to improve road safety and the management of natural hazards. Based on the observation of avalanche activity along the national road G218 in the western Tianshan Mountains, avalanche event data in combination with meteorological, snowpack and earthquake data were collected and analyzed. The snow climate of the mountain range was examined using a recently developed snow climate classification scheme, and triggering conditions of snow avalanche in different snow climate regions were compared. The results show that snowfall is the most common triggering factor for a natural avalanche and there is high probability of avalanche release with snowfall exceeding 20.4 mm during a snowfall period. Consecutive rise in temperature within three days and daily mean temperature reaching 0.5°C in the following day imply a high probability of temperaturerise-triggered avalanche release. Earthquakes have a significant impact on the formation of large size avalanches in the area. For the period 2011-2017, five cases were identified as a consequence of earthquake with magnitudes of 3.3≤M_L≤5.1 and source-to-site distances of 19~139 km. The Tianshan Mountains are characterized by a continental snow climate with lower snow density, lower snow shear strength and high proportion depth hoar, which explains that both the snowfall and temperature for triggering avalanche release in the continental snow climate of the Tianshan Mountains are lower than that in maritime snow climate and transitional snow climate regions. The findings help forecast avalanche release for mitigating avalanche disaster and assessing the risk of avalanche disaster.     

Distribution of borehole temperature at four high-altitude alpine glaciers in Central Asia

The distribution of borehole temperature at four high-altitude alpine glaciers was investigated. The result shows that the temperature ranges from -13.4℃ to -1.84℃, indicating the glaciers are cold throughout the boreholes. The negative gradient （i.e., the temperature decreasing with the increasing of depth） due to the advection of ice and climate warming, and the negative gradient moving downwards relates to climate warming, are probably responsible for the observed minimum temperature moving to lower depth in boreholes of the Gyabrag glacier and Miaoergou glacier compared to the previously investigated continental ice core borehole temperature in West China. The borehole temperature at 10m depth ranges from -8.0℃ in the Gyabrag glacier in the central Himalayas to -12.9℃ in the Tsabagarav glacier in the Altai range. The borehole temperature at 10 m depth is 3-4 degrees higher than the calculated mean annual air temperature on the surface of the glaciers and the higher 10 m depth temperature is mainly caused by the production of latent heat due to melt-water percolation and refreezing. The basal temperature is far below the melting point, indicating that the glaciers are frozen to bedrock. The very low temperature gradients near the bedrock suggest that the influence of geothermal flux and ice flow on basal temperature is very weak. The low temperature and small velocity of ice flow of glaciers are beneficial for preservation of the chemical and isotopic information in ice cores.     

Topographic controls on alpine treeline patterns on Changbai Mountain,China

The control mechanisms of topography on alpine treeline pattern are critical to understanding treeline dynamics and future changes. These mechanisms have not been understood quite well enough because of increasing human disturbance and low data resolution. In this study, the relationship between the treeline pattern and topography was analyzed based on high spatial resolution remote sensing data and a digital elevation model in an area in Changbai Mountain with little human disturbance. Future treeline patterns were also predicted. The results showed that(a) aspects with high solar radiation and low snow cover have a high coverage rate of trees,(b) the peak coverage rate of trees switches from low slopes(5°) to medium slopes(5°~25°) as the elevation rises because of the extreme environment,(c) the coverage rate of trees is a function that depends on environmental factors controlled by topography,(d) the future treeline pattern is controlled by new temperature mechanisms, new environmental factors and the reallocation effect of topography. Our research implies that topography controls the treeline pattern and changes in the treeline pattern associated with global warming, due to the effect of global warming on environmental factors. This study may well explain the causes of heterogeneous changes in the treeline pattern in the horizontal direction as well as differences in treeline response to climate warming.     

Implications of climate change on streamflow of a snow-fed river system of the Northwest Himalaya

Air temperature and snow cover variability are sensitive indicators of climate change. This study was undertaken to forecast and quantify the potential streamflow response to climate change in the Jhelum River basin. The implications of air temperature trends (+0.11°C/decade) reported for the entire north-west Himalaya for past century and the regional warming (+0.7°C/decade) trends of three observatories analyzed between last two decades were used for future projection of snow cover depletion and stream flow. The streamflow was simulated and validated for the year 2007-2008 using snowmelt runoff model (SRM) based on in-situ temperature and precipitation with remotely sensed snow cover area. The simulation was repeated using higher values of temperature and modified snow cover depletion curves according to the assumed future climate. Early snow cover depletion was observed in the basin in response to warmer climate. The results show that with the increase in air temperature, streamflow pattern of Jhelum will be severely affected. Significant redistribution of streamflow was observed in both the scenarios. Higher discharge was observed during spring-summer months due to early snowmelt contribution with water deficit during monsoon months. Discharge increased by 5% 40% during the months of March to May in 2030 and 2050. The magnitude of impact of air temperature is higher in the scenario-2 based on regional warming. The inferences pertaining to change in future streamflow pattern can facilitate long term decisions and planning concerning hydro-power potential, waterresource management and flood hazard mapping in the region.     

Climatic features of summer temperature in northeast china under warming background

By using,summer temperature data in 26 stations from 1951 to 2003, the variation characteristics of summer temperature in Northeast China （NET） were analyzed based on the background of climate wanning. The results showed that the warming in summer was 0.15~C/10a in Northeast China, which was higher than that on the global, Northern Hemisphere or Northeast Asia scale in the recent 50 years. The responses of NET to global warming were shown in 3 aspects mainly. Firstly, it became warm and the average temperature increased in summer; secondly, the temperature variability increased, which displayed the increase of climatic instability; thirdly, the disaster of low temperature decreased and high temperature damage increased obviously, but the disaster of low temperature still existed in some areas under global warming background, which would be worthy of notice further.     

THE PRELIMINARY STUDY ON POSSIBLE SCENARIOS OF FLOOD AND DROUGHT IN CHINA IN THE CASE OF GLOBAL WARMING

ＴＨＥ ＰＲＥＬＩＭＩＮＡＲＹ ＳＴＵＤＹ ＯＮ ＰＯＳＳＩＢＬＥ ＳＣＥＮＡＲＩＯＳ ＯＦ ＦＬＯＯＤ ＡＮＤ ＤＲＯＵＧＨＴ ＩＮ ＣＨＩＮＡ ＩＮ ＴＨＥ ＣＡＳＥ ＯＦ ＧＬＯＢＡＬ ＷＡＲＭＩＮＧ ＣｈｅｎＪｉａｑｉ（陈家其）（Ｎａｎｊｉｎ...     

Effects of nitrogen deposition on tundra vegetation undergoing invasion by Deyeuxia angustifolia in Changbai Mountains

In recent years, herbaceous species such as Deyeuxia angustifolia(Kom.) Y. L. Chang has invaded alpine tundra regions of the western slope of the Changbai Mountains. Because atmospheric nitrogen deposition is predicted to increase under a warming climate and D. angustifolia is sensitive to nitrogen addition, field experiments were conducted from 2010 to 2013 to determine the effect of increased nitrogen deposition on the mechanisms of D. angustifolia invasion. The goal of this study is to evaluate the impact of increased nitrogen deposition on the changes in alpine tundra vegetation(consisting mostly of Rhododendron chrysanthum Pall. and Vaccinium uliginosum Linn.). The results showed that: 1) simulated nitrogen deposition affected overall characteristics and structure of R. chrysanthum and V. uliginosum communities and had a positive impact on the growth of tundra vegetation invaded by D. angustifolia; 2) R. chrysanthum was more resistant to invasion by D. angustifolia than V. uliginosum; 3) simulated nitrogen deposition could improve the growth and enhance the competitiveness of D. angustifolia, which was gradually replacing R. chrysanthum and V. uliginosum and might become the dominant species in the system in future, transforming alpine tundra into alpine meadow in the Changbai Mountains.     

Assessment of alpine summit flora in Kashmir Himalaya and its implications for long-term monitoring of climate change impacts

In an era of climate change,the availability of empirical data on alpine summit vegetation in the Himalaya is still scarce.Here we report the assessment of alpine summit flora in Gulmarg Wildlife Sanctuary,Kashmir Himalaya.We employed a globally standardized Multi-Summit Approach and four spatially isolated summits spanning an elevation gradient of 210 m(between 3530-3740 m a.s.l.) from natural treeline to nival zone were studied.Sampling of the summits was carried out in the year 2018 to collect floristic data together with records of soil temperature.A total of 142 vascular plant species were recorded in the sampled summits.Majority of the species were of herbaceous growth form and with perennial life span.Based on Raunkiaer's life form,hemicryptophytes were the most dominant followed by therophytes and phanerophytes.The summit flora showed the predominance of narrow-endemic species,with broad-and non-endemics declining with elevation.A significant relationship between growth form,Raunkiaer's life form,and the degree of endemism with elevation was observed.Both species diversity and soil temperature showed a monotonic decrease with increasing elevation.Interestingly,soil temperature clearly determined the magnitude of species diversity on the summits.Furthermore,based on floristic composition,the lowest summit had the highest dissimilarity with the rest of the summits.The present study employed globally standardized protocol to scientifically assess the patterns of plant diversity on the alpine mountain summits of Kashmir Himalaya,which in turn has wide implications towards long-term monitoring of climate change impact on alpine biodiversity in the rapidly warming Himalaya.     

Fresh snow chemistry from high mountain regions in central himalayas

Investigations of atmospheric composition in the Himalayas has been limited in both temporal and spatial scales, mainly due to difficult logistics. Ideal sites for monitoring atmospheric composition and its evolution should be free from local pollution and representative of the remote troposphere (HUEBERT et al., 1980). As the Himalayas are far removed from highly industrialized regions they provide suitable locations to monitor the chemistry of the remote troposphere and to study the evolu…