Abstract
The snowline in Himalaya is rising ceaselessly due to regional and global climatic change. Upward rising of snowline leads to the formation of moraines. Due to extreme environmental conditions the existing vegetation of the moraine is scanty, rigorous and possesses different ecological adaptation. Ablation zone of the glacier is covered by a thick pile of supra glacial moraines and is characterized by several serrac ice sections, melting into pools of supra glacial lakes because of subsidence and fast degenerating nature of the glacier. Anaphalis triplinervis was observed to have highest importance value in ablation moraine zone. Here the species richness increased remarkably partially due to the invasion of plant species from lower alpine belt. The fresh lateral moraine displays distressed soil features with mosaic type of vegetation. Gaultheria trichophylla is a dominant plant species here and is associated with other stunted and cold resisting species. The old lateral moraine is dominated by Potentilla atrosanguinea with co-dominant species Iris kemaonensis and Danthonia cachemyriana.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Cody, M.L.: 1993, 'Bird Diversity Components within and between Habitats in Australia,' in R.E. Ricklefs and D. Schluter (eds.), Species Diversity in Ecological Communities: Historical and Geographical Perspective, The University of Chicago, Chicago, USA.
Curtis, J.J. and McIntosh, R.P.: 1950, 'The Interrelations of Certain Analytic and Synthetic Phytosociological Characters,' Ecology 31, 434–455.
Gaur, Uday N.: 2002, Vegetational, Functional and Geo-Edaphic status of a Glacial Moraine in Garhwal Himalaya, India, Ph.D. Thesis, HNB Garhwal University, Srinagar (Garhwal), India.
Golley, F.B.: 1995, 'Reaching a Landmark—Comment,' Landscape Ecology 10, 3–4.
Gottfried, M., Pauli, H., Reite, K. and Grabherr, G.: 1999, 'A Fine Scale Predictive Model for Change in Species Distribution Patterns of High Mountain Plants Induced by Climate Warming,' Diversity and Distribution 5, 241–251.
Grabherr, G., Gottfried, M., Gruber, A. and Pauli, H.: 1995, 'Patterns and Current Changes in Alpine Plant Diversity,' in F.S. Chapin III and C. Korner (eds.), Arctic and Alpine Biodiversity: Patterns, Causes and Ecosystem Consequences. Ecological Studies, Vol. 113, Springer, Berlin, pp. 167–181.
Hariston, N.G.: 1964, 'Studies on Organization of Animal Communities,' Jubilee Symposium supplemented, Journal of Ecology 52, 527–539.
Korner, C.: 1999, Alpine Plant Life: Functional Plant Ecology of High Mountain Ecosystem, Springer, Berlin.
Levins, R.: 1968, Evolution in Changing Environment, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, USA.
Magurran, A.E.: 1988, Ecological Diversity and Its Measurement, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, USA.
Mueller, D.D. and Ellenberg, H.: 1974, Aims and Methods in Vegetation Ecology, Wiley, New York, 359 pp.
Schluter, D. and Ricklefs, R.E.: 1993, 'Species Diversity: An Introduction to the Problem,' in: R.E. Ricklefs and D. Schluter (eds.), Species Diversity in Ecological Community, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, USA.
Shannon, C.E. and Weaver, W.: 1949, The Mathematical Theory of Communication, University of Illinois Press, Urbana, IL, USA.
Simpson, E.H.: 1949, 'Measurement of Diversity,' Nature 163, 688.
Singh, J.S. and Yadava, P.S.: 1974, 'Seasonal Variation in Composition, Plant Biomass and Net Primary Productivity of a Tropical Grassland at Kurukshetra, India,' Ecol. Monogr. 44, 351–376.
Smith, Robert L.: 1990, Student Resource Manual: Ecology and Field Biology, Harper and Row Publisher, New York.
Song, B., Chen, J., Desanker, P.V., Reed, D.D., Bradshaw, G.A. and Franklin, J.F.: 1997, 'Modeling Canopy Structure and Heterogeneity Across Scales: From Crowns to Canopy,' Forest and Ecological Management 96, 217–229.
Whitford, P.B.: 1949, 'Distribution of Woodland Plants in Relation to Succession and Clonal Growth,' Ecology 30, 199–208.
Wiens, J.A., Stenseth, N.C., Vanhorn, B. and Ims, R.A.: 1993, 'Ecological Mechanisms and Landscape Ecology,' Oikos 66, 369–380.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Gaur, U.N., Raturi, G. & Bhatt, A. Quantitative Response of Vegetation in Glacial Moraine of Central Himalaya. The Environmentalist 23, 237–247 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:ENVR.0000017378.55926.a7
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:ENVR.0000017378.55926.a7