Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Vascular plants distribution in relation to topography and environmental variables in alpine zone of Kedarnath Wild Life Sanctuary, West Himalaya

  • Published:
Journal of Mountain Science Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The present study was carried out in Tungnath alpine meadows of Kedarnath Wild Life Sanctuary, Western Himalaya from subalpine to upper alpine zone. A total of four summits were selected along an altitudinal gradient and sampled for detailed vegetation analysis using multi summit approach as per Global observation research initiative in alpine environments (GLORIA). Species richness, diversity, and evenness among four summits as well as the interaction between environmental variables with plant communities were assessed. Monthly mean soil temperature was calculated using data retrieved from geo-precision temperature logger in order to identify the trend of soil temperature among different season and altitudinal gradient and its implications to plant communities. Soil samples were analyzed from each summit by collecting randomized composite soil samples. The indirect non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) and direct canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) tools of ordination techniques to determine the linkage between plant species from various sample summits and biotic/abiotic environmental gradients were used in the present study. The results of the study demonstrated increase in species richness as soil temperature increases, the ecotone representing summits were found most warm summits followed by highest species richness. Annual soil temperature increased by 1.43°C at timberline ecotone. Whereas, at upper alpine zone the soil temperature increased by 0.810C from year 2015 to 2016. Sørensen’s similarity index was found to be increased between subalpine and upper alpine zone with increase in the presence of subalpine plant species at upper alpine zone. Both the ordination tools separate the subalpine summit and their respective vegetation from summits representing timberline ecotone and upper alpine zone. Soil pH, altitude, soil cation exchange capacity were found as the key abiotic drivers for distribution of plant species.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Barry RG (2008) Mountain Weather and Climate, 3rd edition. UK: Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Beniston M, Rebetez M (1996) Regional behavior of minimum temperatures in Switzerland for the period 1979–1993. Theoretical and Applied Climatology 53: 231–243. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00871739

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beniston, M (2012) Is snow in the Alps receding or disappearing?. WIREs Climate Change 3: 349–358. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.179

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bhandari BS, Nautiyal DC, Gaur RD (1999) Structural attributes and productivity potential of an alpine pasture of Garhwal Himalaya. Journal of the Indian Botanical Society 78: 321–329.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bowman W (2005) The response of alpine plants to environmental change. Feedbacks to ecosystem function. In: Huber U, Bugmann H, Reasoner M (eds) Global change and mountain regions. An overview of current knowledge. Springer, Dordrecht, pp 377–382.

  • Bond LB, Thomson A (2010) Temperature-associated increases in the global soil respiration record. Nature 464: 579–582. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature08930

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cajo JF, Braak T (1987) The analysis of vegetation-environment relationship by Canonical Correspondence Analysis. Vegetatio 69: 69–77. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00038688

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clarke KR, (1993) Non-parametric multivariate analysis of climate change in community structure. Australian Journal of Ecology 18: 117–143. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1442-9993.1993.tb00438.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Colwell RK, Less DC (2000) Themid-domain effect, geometric constraints on the geography of species richness. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 15: 70–76. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-5347(99)01767-X

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dawes MA, Schleppi P, Hättenschwiler S, et al. (2016) Soil warming opens the nitrogen cycle at the alpine treeline. Global Change Biology 23(1): 421–434. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13365

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eklund A, Gardelin M, Lindroth A (2000) Simulated and measured winter evaporation in a boreal forest: Assessment of the HBV model. Upsala: The XXI Nordic Hydrological Conference. NHP Report No. 46: 332–338.

    Google Scholar 

  • Erschbamer B, Unnterluggauer P, Winkler E, et al. (2011). Changes in plant species diversity revealed by long-term monitoring on mountain summits in the Dolomites (northern Italy).Preslia 83: 387–401.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gangwar RS, Joshi BD (2006) Some medicinal flora in the riparian zone of river Ganga at Saptrishi, Haridwar, Uttaranchal. Himalayan Journal of Environment and Zoology 20(2): 237–241.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grabherr G, Gottfried M, Pauli H (2000) GLORIA: A Global Observation Research Initiative in Alpine Environments. Mountain Research and Development 20: 190–192. https://doi.org/10.1659/0276-4741(2000)020[0190:GAGORI]2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hammer O, Harper DAT, Ryan PD (2001) Past: Paleontological statistics software package for education and data analysis. Palaeontologia Electronica4: 1–9. Available online at: https://doi.org/palaeo-electronica.org/2001_1/past/issue1_01.htm (Accessed on 12 April 2016)

    Google Scholar 

  • Jiang H (1994) Ordination, quantitative classification, and environmental interpretation of plant communities in Dongling Mountain. Acta Botanica Sinica 36: 539–551. https://doi.org/10.11821/xb200406013

    Google Scholar 

  • Kobiv Y (2017) Response of rare alpine plant species to climate change in the Ukrainian Carpathians. Folia Geobotanica 52(2): 217–226. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12224-016-9270-z

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Körner C (1999) Alpine plant life: Functional plant ecology of high mountain ecosystems. Spring Verlag, Berlin.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Körner C, Spehn E (2002) Mountain biodiversity, its causes and function an overview: a global assessment. The Parthenon Publishing Group, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Körner C (2003) Alpine plant life. Springer, Berlin.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Legendre P, Legendre L (1998) Numerical Ecology, 2nd English Ed. Elsevier, 853.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leng W, He H, Li X, et al. (2006) Effects of different sampling modes on the results of vegetation ordination analysis. The Journal of Applied Ecology 17: 1563–1569.

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu X, Chen B (2000) Climatic warming in the Tibetan Plateau during recent decades. International Journal of Climatology 20: 1729–1742. https://doi.org/10.1002/1097-0088(20001130)20:14<1729::AID-JOC556>3.0.CO;2-Y

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Malik ZA, Nautiyal MC (2016) Species richness and diversity along the altitudinal gradient in Tungnath, the Himalayan benchmark site of HIMADRI. Tropical Plant Research 3(2): 396–407.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayer R, Kaufmann R, Vorhauser K, et al. (2009) Effects of grazing exclusion on species composition in high-altitude grasslands of the Central Alps. Basic and Applied Ecology 10(5): 447–455. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2008.10.004

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCain CM (2004) The mid-domain effect applied to elevational gradients, species richness of small mammals in Costa Rica. Journal of Biogeography 31: 19–31. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.0305-0270.2003.00992.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McFarland CR, Huggins DR (2015) Soil pH and implications for management: An introduction. Washington State University ExtensionFS170E,pp2–6.

    Google Scholar 

  • Naqinezhad A, Zare-Maivan H, Gholizadeh H, et al. (2013) Understory vegetation as an indicator of soil characteristics in the Hyrcanian area, N. Iran. Flora-Morphology, Distribution, Functional Ecology of Plants 208(1): 3–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.flora.2012.12.002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nautiyal MC, Nautiyal BP, Prakash V (2004) Effect of grazing and climatic changes of vegetation of Tungnath, Garhwal Himalaya, India. The Environmentalist 24(2): 125–134. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10669-004-4803-z

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Negi VS, Maikhuri RK, Pharswan D, et al. (2016) Climate change impact in Western Himalaya: people’s perception and adaptive strategies. Journal of Mountain Science 14(2): 403–416. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-015-3814-1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neve SD, Hartmann Hofman G (2003) Temperature effects on N mineralization: changes in soil solution composition and determination of temperature coefficients by TDR. European Journal of Soil Science 54(1): 49–62. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2389.2003.00521.x

    Google Scholar 

  • Panthi MP, Chaudhary RP, Vetaas OR (2007) Plant species richness and composition in a trans-Himalayan inner valley of Mangal district, central Nepal. Himalayan Journal of Sciences 4(6): 57–64. https://doi.org/10.3126/hjs.v4i6.983

    Google Scholar 

  • Pauli H, Gottfried M, Hohenwallner D, et al. (2004) The GLORIA field manual-a multi-summit approach, European Communities, Luxembourg.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pauli H, Gottfried M, Reiter K, et al. (2007) Signals of range expansion and contractions of vascular plants in the high Alps: observations (1994–2004) at the GLORIA master site Schrankogel, Tyrol, Austria. Global Change Biology 12: 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2006.01282.x

    Google Scholar 

  • Peet RK (1974) The Measurement of Species Diversity. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 5: 285–307. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.es.05.110174.001441

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pickering CM, Hill W, Green K (2008) Vascular plant diversity and climate change in the alpine zone of the Snowy Mountains, Australia. Biodiversity Conservation 17: 1627–1644. https://doi.org/10.1071/BT08133

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pielou EC (1975) Ecological Diversity. John Wiley & Sons, New York. p 165.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pittock B (2003) Climate Change-An Australian Guide to the Science and Potential Impacts. Australian Greenhouse Office, Canberra, Australia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rai ID, Adhikari BS, Rawat GS, et al. (2012) Community structure along timberline ecotone in relation to microtopography and disturbance in West Himalaya. Notulae Scientia Biologicae 4(2): 41–52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ram J, Arya P (1991) Plant forms and Vegetation Analysis of an Alpine Meadow Of central Himalaya, India. Proceedings of Indian National Science Academy 57: 311–318.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rawal RS, Pangtey YPS (1994) Distribution and structuralfunctional attributes of trees in the high altitude zone of Central Himalaya, India. Vegetatio 112: 29–34. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00045097

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Samant SS, Dhar U, Rawat RS (1998) Biodiversity status of a protected area in West Himalaya: Askot Wildlife Sanctuary. International Journal of Sustainable Development and World Ecology 5(3): 194–203. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504509809469983

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sanders NJ (2002) Elevational gradients in ant species richness, area geometry, and Rapoport’s rule.Ecography 25: 25–32. https://doi.org/10.1034/j.1600-0587.2002.250104.x

    Google Scholar 

  • Scherrer D, Körner C (2011) Topographically controlled thermal-habitat differentiation buffers alpine plant diversity against climate warming. Journal of Biogeography 38: 406–416. https://doi.org/1111/j.1365-2699.2010.02407.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Semwal JK (1981) Taxonomical survey of Tungnath and ecophysiological studies of some selected plants of the region. Ph.D. Thesis submitted to the HNB Garhwal Central University Srinagar (A Central University), Srinagar Garhwal–246174, Uttarakhand, India.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shaheen H, Ahmad N, Alam N, et al. (2011) Phytodiversity and endemic richness in high altitude Rama Valley, Western Himalayas, Northern Pakistan. Journal of Medicinal Plants Research 5(8): 1489–1493.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shaheen H, Rehman ZU, Dar EUI (2015) Spatial patterns and diversity of alpine vegetation across Langer-Shandur Valley, Hindukush Himalayas. Current Science 108(8): 1534–1539.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shannon CE, Wiener W (1949) The Mathematical Theory of Communication. University of Illinois Press. Urbana, USA. pp 379–423.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shepard RN (1962) The analysis of proximities: multidimensional scaling with an unknown distance function. Psychometrika 27: 125–139.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shrestha AB, Wake CP, Mayewski PA, et al, (1999) Maximum temperature trends in the Himalaya and its vicinity: an analysis based on temperature records from Nepal for the period 1971–94. Journal of Climate 12(9): 2775–2786. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0442(1999)012<2775:MTTITH>2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Singh A, Nautiyal MC, Kunwar RM, et al. (2017) Ethnomedicinal plants used by local inhabitants of Jakholi block, Rudraprayag district, western Himalaya, India. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 13: 49. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13002-017-0178-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith P, Fang C. (2010) C cycle: A warm response by soils. Nature 464: 499–500.https://doi.org/10.1038/464499a

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sørensen T (1948) A method of establishing groups of equal amplitude in plant sociology based on similarity of species content and its application to analyses of the vegetation on Danish commons. Videnski Selskab Biologiske Skrifter 5: 1–34.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stevens GC (1992) Theelevational gradient in altitudinal range: an extension of Rapoport’s latitudinal rule to altitude. The American Naturalist 140: 893–911. https://doi.org/10.1086/285447

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sundriyal RC (1992) Structure, productivity and energy flow in an alpine grassland in the Garhwal Himalaya. Journal of Vegetation Science 3: 15–20. https://doi.org/10.2307/3235992

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sundriyal RC (1994) Vegetation dynamics and animal behavior in an alpine pasture of Garhwal Himalaya. In: Y P Sundriyal and YPS Pangtey (eds), High Altitudes of the Himalaya. India. Gyanodaya Prakashan Nainital. pp 175–192.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thakur RK, Baghel SS, Sharma GD, et al. (2012) Training Programme on Advances in Agro-technologies for Improving Soil, Plant and Atmosphere Systems (October 11–31); Lab Manual, Centre of Advanced Faculty Training, Department of Soil & Agricultural Chemistry Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Jabalpur, M.P.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tomasic M, Zgorelec Z, Jurisic A, et al. (2013) Cation capacity of dominant soil type in the Republic of Croatia. Journal of Central European Agriculture 14(3): 937–951. https://doi.org/10.5513/JCEA01/14.3.1286

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Valdiya KS. (1980) Geology of Kumaun Lesser Himalaya.Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIHG), Dehradun, 291 p.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang XU, Sun Z, Zhou AG (2014) Alpine Cold Vegetation Response to Climate Change in the Western Nyainqentanglha Range in 1972–2009. The Scientific World Journal. https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/514736

    Google Scholar 

  • Wehn S, Lundemo S, Holten JI (2014) Alpine vegetation along multiple environmental gradients and possible consequences of climate change. Alpine Botany 124: 155–164. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00035-014-0136-9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whittaker RH (1975) Communities and Ecosystem. 2nd Ed., Macmillan, New York.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We are sincerely thankful to the Director HAPPRC and field staff for their support during the work. This study was conducted as a part of the project Alpine Ecosystem Dynamics and was supported by SAC, ISRO, Ahmedabad, India (EPSA/ ABHG/ ALPINE/ PRACRITI-II 01/13).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. High Altitude Plant Physiology Research Centre (HAPPRC) H.N.B. Garhwal University, Srinagar Garhwal, 246174, Uttarakhand, India

    Sudeep Chandra, Ankit Singh & M. C. Nautiyal

  2. Space Applications Centre, (Indian Space Research Organization), Ahmedabad, 380015, India

    C. P. Singh

  3. Govind Ballabh Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment & Sustainable Development, Garhwal Unit, Srinagar Garhwal, 246174, Uttarakhand, India

    L. S. Rawat

Authors
  1. Sudeep Chandra
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ankit Singh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. C. P. Singh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. M. C. Nautiyal
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. L. S. Rawat
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sudeep Chandra.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Chandra, S., Singh, A., Singh, C.P. et al. Vascular plants distribution in relation to topography and environmental variables in alpine zone of Kedarnath Wild Life Sanctuary, West Himalaya. J. Mt. Sci. 15, 1936–1949 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-017-4738-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-017-4738-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation