Abstract
The Quercus leucotrichophora, commonly known as the Banj-oak in Uttarakhand, Indian Himalaya, provides a large number of ecosystem services to the people of Himalaya. However, due to the unavailability of direct flux observations, sub-daily to seasonal-scale variability of the Banj-oak ecosystem biosphere-atmosphere carbon exchanges have not been studied in detail. To address this lacuna, this study presents the first-time eddy covariance-based observations of carbon exchanges of a Banj-oak-dominated vegetation of western Himalaya. The carbon exchanges and atmospheric parameters were measured from 1 March, 2020, to 30 November, 2020, using a 10 m eddy covariance tower at Gangolihat, Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand (80.02°E, 29.39°N). The high-frequency carbon exchange data were quality checked and converted to daily net ecosystem exchange (NEE), gross primary productivity (GPP), and ecosystem respiration (RE). The variability of NEE, GPP, and RE was evaluated for the pre-monsoon (March–May), monsoon (June–September), and post-monsoon (October–November) seasons. Additionally, relationships between NEE and meteorological parameters (air temperature, PPFD, and VPD), the major controlling factors of plant photosynthesis, were analysed. Results of our analysis indicated that the Banj-oak-dominated vegetation were a net sink of CO2 having a carbon uptake of 610.1 gCm−2 during the 275 days of 2020. The highest amount of NEE was noted for the pre-monsoon season (−2.72 gC.m−2.day−1), followed by monsoon (−1.96 gC.m−2.day−1) and post-monsoon seasons (−1.95 gC.m−2.day−1). The relationships between meteorological parameters and NEE indicated a higher NEE coupling of post-monsoon season due to lesser rainfall activities, resulting to limited changes in the relationships between air temperature, radiation, and VPD.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Burba, & Anderson. (2009). A brief practical guide to eddy covariance flux measurements: Principles and workflow examples for scientific and industrial applications, LI-COR biosciences (Version 1.0.1).
Cowan, I. (1977). Stomatal behaviour and environment. Advances in Botanical Research, 4, 117–228.
Deb Burman, P. K., Launiainen, S., Mukherjee, S., Chakraborty, S., Gogoi, N., Murkute, C., Lohani, P., Sarma, D., & Kumar, K. (2021). Ecosystem-atmosphere carbon and water exchanges of subtropical evergreen and deciduous forests in India. Forest Ecology and Management, 495, 119371.
Dhyani, S., Kadaverugu, R., & Pujari, P. (2020). Predicting impacts of climate variability on Banj oak (Quercus leucotrichophora A. Camus) forests: Understanding future implications for Central Himalayas. Regional Environmental Change, 20, 113.
Farquhar, G., & Sharkey, T. (1982). Stomatal conductance and photosynthesis. Annales Review of Plant Physiology, 33, 317–345.
Foken, T., & Nappo, C. (2008). Micrometeorology. Springer.
Grossiord, C., Buckley, T. N., Cernusak, L. A., Novick, K., Poulter, B., Seigwolf, R., Sperry, J., & McDowell, N. (2020). Plant responses to rising vapour pressure deficit. New Phytologist, 226(6), 1550–1566.
Hao, G., Hu, Z., Di, K., & Li, S. (2020). Rainfall pulse response of carbon exchange to the timing of natura intra-annual rainfall in a temperate grass ecosystem. Ecological Indicators, 118, 106730.
Joshi, B., Rawal, R. S., Chandra Sekar, K., & Tewari, A. (2020). Assessment of fuelwood resource preference in representative watershed of west Himalaya, India: Conservation and management implications. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 22, 1617–1632.
Lasslop, G., Reichstein, M., Papale, D., Richardson, A., Arneth, A., Barr, A., Stoy, P., & Wohlfahrt, G. (2010). Separation of net ecosystem exchange into assimilation and respiration using a light response curve approach: Critical issues and global evaluation. Global Change Biology, 16(1), 187–208.
Law, B., Falge, E., Gu, L., Baldocchi, D., Bakwin, P., Berbigier, P., Davis, K., Dolman, A.-J., Falk, M., Fuentes, J., Goldstein, A., Grelle, A., Hollinger, D., Janssens, I.-A., Jarvis, P., Jenssen, N., Katul, G., Mahli, K., Matteucci, G., Meyers, T., Monson, R.-K., Munger, W., Oechel, W., Olson, R., Pilegaard, K., Paw, U.-T., Thorgeirsson, K., Valentini, H., Verma, R., Vesala, T., Wilson, J., & Wofsy, S. (2002). Environmental controls over carbon dioxide and water vapour exchange of terrestrial vegetation. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 113, 97–120.
Mukherjee, S., Joshi, R., Prasad, R., Vishvakarma, S., & Kumar, K. (2015). Summer monsoon rainfall trends in the Indian Himalayan region. Theoretical and Applied Climatology, 121(3–4), 789–802.
Mukherjee, S., Sekar, K. C., Lohani, P., Kumar, K., Patra, P., & Ishijima, K. (2018). Investigation of scale interaction between rainfall and ecosystem carbon exchange of Western Himalayan Pine dominated vegetation. Biogeosciences Discussions, 2018, 1–23.
Mukherjee, S. (2021). Summer monsoon rainfall trends in the Indian Himalayan region. Science of the Total Environment, 789, 147754.
Naudiyal, N., & Schmerbeck, J. (2016). The changing Himalayan landscape: Pine-Oak forest dynamics and the supply of ecosystem services. Journal of Forestry Research, 28(3), 431–443.
Nautiyal, H., Mathur, V., Sinha, A., & Huffman, M.-A. (2020). The Banj oak Quercus leucotrichophora as a potential mitigating factor for human-langur interactions in the Garhwal Himalayas, India: People’s perceptions and ecological importance. Global Ecology and Conservation, 22.
Papale, D., Reichstein, M., Aubinet, M., Canfora, E., Bernhofer, C., Kutsch, W., Longdoz, B., Rambal, S., Valentine, R., Vesala, T., & Yakir, D. (2006). Towards a standardized processing of Net Ecosystem Exchange measured with eddy covariance technique: Algorithms and uncertainty estimation. Biogeosciences, 3, 571–583.
Pattanaik, D., & Rajeevan, M. (2010). Variability of extreme rainfall events over India during southwest monsoon season. Meteorological Applications, 17, 88–104.
Rathore, P., Roy, A., & Karnatak, H. (1985). Assessing the vulnerability of Oak (Quercus) forest ecosystems under projected climate and land use land cover changes in Western Himalaya. Biodiversity and Conservation, 28, 2275–2294.
Renaud, V., Innes, J., Dobbertin, M., & Rebetez, M. (2011). Comparison between open-site and below-canopy climatic conditions in {Switzerland} for different types of forests over 10 years (1998-2007). Theoretical and Applied Climatology, 105(1–2), 119–127.
Renaud, V., & Rebetez, M. (2009). Comparison between open-site and below-canopy climatic conditions in Switzerland during the exceptionally hot summer of 2003. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 149(5), 873–880.
Schotanus, P., Nieuwstadt, F., & DeBruin, H. (1983). Temperature measurement with a sonic anemometer and its application to heat and moisture fluctuations. Boundary-Layer Meteorology, 26, 81–93.
Singh, J. S., & Singh, S. P. (1986). Structure and function of the Central Himalayan oak forests. Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Science (Ptant Sciences), 96(3), 159–189.
Singh, J. S., & Singh, S. P. (1987). Forest vegetation of the Himalaya. The Botanical Review, 53(1), 80–192.
Singh, V., Thadani, R., Tiwari, A., & Ram, J. (2014). Human Influence on Banj Oak (Quercus leucotrichophora, A. Camus) Forests of Central Himalaya. Journal of Sustainable Forestry, 33, 373–386.
Upreti, N., Tiwari, J. C., & Singh, S. P. (1985). The oak forests of the Kumaun Himalaya (India): Composition, diversity, and regeneration. Mountain Research and Development, 5(2), 163–174.
Webb, E., Pearmann, G., & Leuning, R. (1980). Correction of flux measurements for density effects due to heat and water-vapour transfer. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, 106, 85–100.
Wilczak, J., Oncley, S., & Stage, S. (2001). Sonic anemometer tilt correction algorithms. Boundary-Layer Meteorology, 99, 127–150.
Zhang, Z., Zhao, P., McCarthy, H., Zhao, X., Niu, J., Zhu, L., Ni, G., Ouyang, L., & Huang, Y. (2016). Influence of the decoupling degree on the estimation of canopy stomatal conductance for two broadleaf tree species. Agricultural Forest Meteorology, 221, 230–241.
Zhou, S., Yu, B., Huang, Y., & Wang, G. (2014). The effect of vapour pressure deficit on water use efficiency at the subdaily time scale. Geophysical Research Letters, 41(14), 5005–5013.
Acknowledgement
The flux tower of Gangolihat, Pithoragarh, India, was established through a research grant from NMSHE-TF3(Phase-1) and is maintained through NMSHE-TF3(Phase-2), Govt. of India. P. Lohani, S. Mukherjee, and K. Chandra Sekar are grateful to NMHS-MoEFCC, Govt. of India, for providing a research grant for analysing the oak system data (GBPI/NMHS-2019-20/MG62/04, 2019) for this study.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Lohani, P., Mukherjee, S., Sekar, K.C. (2023). Seasonal Variation of Ecosystem Fluxes of a Himalayan Banj-Oak-Dominated Vegetation. In: Sharma, S., Kuniyal, J.C., Chand, P., Singh, P. (eds) Climate Change Adaptation, Risk Management and Sustainable Practices in the Himalaya. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-24659-3_13
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-24659-3_13
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-24658-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-24659-3
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)