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Modern pollen dispersal in relation to present vegetation distribution and land use in the Baspa valley, Kinnaur, western Himalayas

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Abstract

Interpretation of a fossil pollen data for the vegetation and climate reconstruction of any region needs a modern pollen-vegetation analogue for its calibration. We analyzed the surface sediments and moss polsters for the pollen and microcharcoal records to understand the modern pollen-vegetation relationship and human activities in the Baspa Valley, Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh. Presently, valley is occupied by the arboreal and non-arboreal vegetation of temperate to subalpine habitats and land use activities. The recovered pollen assemblages showed variability in the dispersal behavior of pollen of taxa growing along the valley transect and also captured the signals of human activities over land use. The overall dominance of arboreal pollen in the recovered pollen assemblage corresponds with the dominant growth of conifers and broadleaf tree taxa and represents the valley vegetation at a regional scale. However, the profuse pollen production of a few arboreal taxa and long distance pollen transport from one vegetation zone to other by the strong upthermic valley winds could bias the pollen representation of in-situ vegetation. The high pollen frequency of non-arboreal taxa in the open meadows represents the near vicinity to their plant source. Human activities like fire burning and cultivation by the local population are evident by the recovery of microcharcoal particles and pollen of plants belonging to Cerealia Poaceae, Asteraceae, Amaranthaceae, Polygonaceae, Rosaceae, Juglandaceae, etc. The dataset taken as modern pollen-vegetation analogue is useful to assess past changes in the vegetation and land cover in relation to climate and human factors for future sustenance.

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Data availability

The authors declare that the data supporting the findings of this study are provided within the paper. The primary data will be available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to the Director, Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, Lucknow for institute facilities to carry out the work to get published. Our kind gratitude is extended to the Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) and other Officials and staff of Forest Department, Himachal Pradesh for giving kind permission and help in sample collection from the study area. We sincerely acknowledge Dr. Surendra Paul, Director, India Meteorological Department (IMD), Shimla HP, and the officials for their kind help in providing the Kalpa Meteorological Station data that helped to relate the vegetation of the region with climate. The author BDC highly acknowledges the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) for the fellowship.

Author contributions

PSR, NT, and IR conceptualized the study objectives and design. Sample collection and material preparation was done by PSR, NT, AS, and MS. Data generation, sample identification, data interpretation and analysis, and preparation of maps and figures were performed jointly by NT, IR, PSR, SS, AS, MS, and BDC. The first draft of the manuscript was written by NT and IR. All other authors PSR, MS, AB, CPS, BDC, and AS commented on previous versions of the manuscript and modified it. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Funding

We are thankful to Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, Lucknow under the Quaternary Himalayan project, and Space Applications Centre (SAC-ISRO), Ahmedabad (SHRESTI programme SAC/EPSA/BPSG/ALPINE/SHRESTI/09/2019) for funding.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, 53 University Road, Lucknow, India

    Nidhi Tomar, Mayank Shekhar, Parminder Singh Ranhotra & Amalava Bhattacharyya

  2. Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, India

    Nidhi Tomar & Parminder Singh Ranhotra

  3. Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Dr. Homi Bhabha Road, Pashan, Pune, India

    Ipsita Roy

  4. Rajat P.G. College, University of Lucknow, Lucknow, India

    Shreya Shri

  5. Institute of Geography, University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, 91052, Erlangen, Germany

    Bency David Chinthala

  6. Botanical Survey of India, Northern Regional Centre, Dehradun, India

    Amber Srivastava

  7. Space Applications Centre, Indian Space Research Organisation, Ahmedabad, India

    Chandra Prakash Singh

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  1. Nidhi Tomar
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  2. Ipsita Roy
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  9. Amalava Bhattacharyya
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Correspondence to Parminder Singh Ranhotra.

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ESM 1

Supplementary Figure S1 Pollen Plates -Arboreal taxa: 1. Abies (Pinaceae), 2. Picea (Pinaceae), 3. Pinus (Pinaceae), 4. Cedrus (Pinaceae), 5. Juniperus (Cupressaceae), 6. Betula (Betulaceae), 7. Alnus (Betulaceae), 8. Carpinus (Carpinaceae), 9. Corylus (Corylaceae), 10. Quercus (Fagaceae), 11. Juglans (Juglandaceae), 12. Salix (Salicaceae),13. Rosaceae, 14. Hippophae (Eleagnaceae). Non-Arboreal taxa: 15. Ephedra (Ephedraceae), 16. Artemisia (Asteraceae), 17. Liguliflorae (Asteraceae), 18. Tubuliflorae (Asteraceae), 19. Brassicaceae, 20. Amaranthaceae, 21. Potentilla (Rosaceae), 22. Ranunculaceae, 23. Thalictrum (Ranunculaceae), 24. Apiaceae. 25. Polygonaceae, 26. Polygonum (Polygonaceae), 27. Rumex (Polygonaceae),28. Fagopyrum (Polygonaceae), 29. Caryophyllaceae, 30. Galium (Rubiaceae), 31. Lamiaceae, 32. Saxifragaceae, 33. Gentianaceae, 34. Sedum (Crassulaceae), 35. Rutaceae, 36. Fabaceae, 37. Solanaceae, 38. Primula (Primulaceae), 39. Urtica (Urticaceae), 40. Viburnum (Caprifoliaceae), 41. Impatiens (Balsaminaceae), 42. Potamogeton (Potamogetonaceae), 43. Typha (Typhaceae), 44. Poaceae (< 35μm), 45. Cerealia Poaceae (> 35 μm), 46. Cyperaceae, 47. Monolete spore, 48. Trilete spore. (JPG 25063 kb)

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Tomar, N., Roy, I., Shri, S. et al. Modern pollen dispersal in relation to present vegetation distribution and land use in the Baspa valley, Kinnaur, western Himalayas. Environ Monit Assess 196, 194 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-024-12340-8

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