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The climate sensitive zone along an altitudinal gradient in central Himalayan rivers: a useful concept to monitor climate change impacts in mountain regions

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Abstract

Highland freshwater ecosystems respond rapidly to changing climatic conditions making the biota of mountain streams and rivers particularly vulnerable to climate change. Lack of data and concepts to monitor and manage the potential effects of climate change on freshwater biota is particularly evident in developing countries. Many of the highest and longest mountain systems are found in these regions and provide fundamental water-based services to these countries. The climate sensitive zone (CSZ) concept is based upon changes in community composition along altitudinal gradients that serve as a proxy for climatic gradients. The CSZ characterizes a community of climatically sensitive biota that is likely to react quickly to climate change. We present a framework on how the CSZ can be adapted to and implemented in streams, and demonstrate its applicability for central Himalayan streams of Nepal. We sampled and analyzed benthic invertebrate communities of 58 central Himalayan streams along altitudinal gradients from 1500 to 4500 m asl. A generalized linear model identified altitude as the only significant, albeit indirect, variable explaining benthic invertebrate composition. We applied species turnover scores and threshold indicator taxon analysis (TITAN) to identify the CSZ in central Himalayan streams along the extensive altitudinal gradients. An altitudinal band between 2900 and 3500 m was identified as CSZ and was characterized by 33 indicator taxa. Identifying CSZs in streams can help prioritize resources for monitoring climate change impacts in running waters and help pinpoint stream reaches suitable for testing the efficacy of climate change-directed mitigation practices.

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Acknowledgments

We thank D.N. Shah, F. Hoppeler, G. Regmi, K. Khatiwada, M. Prajapati, B. Tamang, D. Tamang, R. Lama, K. Nayaju, P. Sherpa, R.K. Rai, K. Tamang, and T.K. Tamang for the assistance during the sampling campaign. We are thankful to Dr. Andrea Sundermann for her help in the TITAN analysis and the fruitful discussion on its outputs. We also thank three anonymous reviewers for the constructive comments that helped improve the manuscript. We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC) Nepal for providing the research permits. The project was funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research - International Postgraduate Studies in Water Technologies (IPS11/36P) and the research funding programme “LOEWE—Landes-Offensive zur Entwicklung Wissenschaftlich-Ökonomischer Exzellenz” of Hesse’s Ministry of Higher Education, Research, and the Arts.

Data accessibility

Data on macroinvertebrate community composition and abiotic parameters at the sampling sites are available via the BiK-F Data and Metadata Repository (http://dataportal-senckenberg.de/database/).

Author contributions

RDTS, SCJ, and SP conceived and designed the study. RDTS and SP performed the fieldwork. RDTS analyzed the data. RDTS, SCJ, and SP drafted the manuscript. All authors edited the manuscript and approved the final version.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F), Senckenberganlage 25, Frankfurt am Main, 60325, Germany

    Ram Devi Tachamo Shah, Peter Haase, Sonja C. Jähnig & Steffen U. Pauls

  2. Department of River Ecology and Conservation, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum, Clamecystrasse 12, 63571, Gelnhausen, Germany

    Ram Devi Tachamo Shah, Peter Haase & Sonja C. Jähnig

  3. Department of Environmental Science & Engineering, Kathmandu University, P.O. Box 6250, Kathmandu, Nepal

    Subodh Sharma

  4. Department of Ecosystem Research, Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Müggelseedamm 301, 12587, Berlin, Germany

    Sonja C. Jähnig

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  1. Ram Devi Tachamo Shah
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  2. Subodh Sharma
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  3. Peter Haase
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  4. Sonja C. Jähnig
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  5. Steffen U. Pauls
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Correspondence to Ram Devi Tachamo Shah or Steffen U. Pauls.

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Sonja C. Jähnig and Steffen U. Pauls shared senior authorship.

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Shah, R.D.T., Sharma, S., Haase, P. et al. The climate sensitive zone along an altitudinal gradient in central Himalayan rivers: a useful concept to monitor climate change impacts in mountain regions. Climatic Change 132, 265–278 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-015-1417-z

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