Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Contemporary and historic population structure of Abies spectabilis at treeline in Barun valley, eastern Nepal Himalaya

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

Abstract

Treeline ecotone dynamics of Abies spectabilis (D. Don) Mirb. in the Barun valley, Makalu Barun National Park, eastern Nepal Himalaya were studied by establishing seven plots (20 m × variable length) from the forestline to the tree species limit: three plots on the south- and north-facing slopes each (S1–S3, N1–N3), and one plot on the east-facing slope (E) in the relatively undisturbed forests. A dendroecological method was used to study treeline advance rate and recruitment pattern. In all the plots, most trees established in the early 20th century, and establishment in the second half of the 20th century was confined to the forestline area. Treeline position has not advanced substantially in the Barun valley, with only 22 m average elevational shift in the last 130 years, and with average current shifting rate of 14 cm/yr. Moreover, no significant relationship was found between tree age and elevation on the south-, north-, and east-facing slopes. The number of seedlings and saplings in near the treeline area was negligible compared to that near the forestline area. Therefore, A. spectabilis treeline response to the temperature change was slow, despite the increasing temperature trend in the region. Beside the temperature change, factors such as high inter-annual variability in temperature, dense shrub cover, and local topography also play an important role in treeline advance and controlling recruitment pattern above the treeline.

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

  • Baker BB, Moseley RK (2007) Advancing treeline and retreating glaciers: implications for conservation in Yunnan, PR China. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research 39: 200–209. DOI: 10.1657/1523-0430(2007)39[200:ATARGI]2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beckage B, Osborne B, Gavin DG, et al. (2008) A rapid upward shift of a forest ecotone during 40 years of warming in the Green Mountains of Vermont. PNAS 105: 4197–202. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0708921105

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bekker MF (2005). Positive feedback between tree establishment and patterns of subalpine forest advancement, Glacier National Park, Montana, USA. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research 37: 97–107. DOI: 10.1657/1523-0430(2005) 037[0097:PFBTEA]2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Byers AC (1996) Historical and contemporary human disturbance in the upper Barun Valley, Makalu-Barun National Park and Conservation Area, East Nepal. Mountain Research and Development 16: 235–247.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Camarero JJ, Gutierrez E (1999) Structure and recent recruitment at alpine forest-pasture ecotones in the Spanish central Pyrenees. Ecoscience 6: 451–464.

    Google Scholar 

  • Camarero JJ, Gutiérrez E (2004) Pace and pattern of recent treeline dynamics: response of ecotones to climatic variability in the Spanish Pyrenees. Climate Change 63: 181–200. DOI: 10.1023/B:CLIM.0000018507.71343.46

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carpenter C, Zomer R (1996) Forest ecology of the Makalu-Barun National Park and Conservation Area, Nepal. Mountain Research and Development 16: 135–148.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dalen L, Hofgaard A (2005) Differential regional treeline dynamics in the Scandes Mountains. Arctic, Antarctic and Alpine Research 37: 284–296.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Danby RK, Hik DS (2007) Variability, contingency and rapid change in recent subarctic alpine tree line dynamics. Journal of Ecology 95: 352–363. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2745.2006.01200.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dang H, Zhang Y, Zhang K, et al. (2010) Age structure and regeneration of subalpine fir (Abies fargesii) forests across an altitudinal range in the Qinling Mountains, China. Forest Ecology and Management 259: 547–554. DOI: 10.1016/j.foreco.2009.11.011

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Devi N, Hagedorn F, Moiseev P, et al. (2008) Expanding forests and changing growth forms of Siberian larch at the Polar Urals treeline during the 20th century. Global Change Biology 14: 1581–1591. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2486.2008.01583.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dubey B, Yadav RR, Singh J, et al.(2003) Upward shift of Himalayan pine in Western Himalaya, India. Current Science 85:1135–1136.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elliott GP (2011) Influences of 20th-century warming at the upper tree line contingent on local-scale interactions: evidence from a latitudinal gradient in the Rocky Mountains, USA. Global Ecology and Biogeography 20: 46–57. DOI: 10.1111/j.1466-8238.2010.00588.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Engelmark O (1987) Fire history correlations to forest type and topography in northern Sweden. Annales Botanici Fennici 24:317–324.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gaire NP, Koirala M, Bhuju DR, et al. (2014). Treeline dynamics with climate change at the central Nepal Himalaya. Climate of the Past 10: 1277–1290. DOI: 10.5194/cp-10-1277-2014

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gamache I, Payette S (2005) Latitudinal response of subarctic tree lines to recent climate change in eastern Canada. Journal of Biogeography 32: 849–862. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2699.2004.01182.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Germino MJ, Smith WK, Resor AC (2002) Conifer seedling distribution and survival in an alpine-treeline ecotone. Plant Ecology 162: 157–168. DOI: 10.1023/A:1020385320738

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harsch MA, Hulme PE, McGlone MS, et al. (2009) Are treelines advancing? A global meta-analysis of treeline response to climate warming. Ecological Letters 12: 1040–1059. DOI: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2009.01355.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harsch MA, Bader MY (2011). Treeline form-a potential key to understanding treeline dynamics. Global Ecology and Biogeography 20: 582–596. DOI: 10.1111/j.1466-8238.2010.00622.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hättenschwiler S, Körner C (1996). System-level adjustments to elevated CO2 in model spruce ecosystems. Global Change Biology 2: 377–387. DOI: 10.2307/3236235

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hofgaard A, Dalen L, Hytteborn H (2009) Tree recruitment above the treeline and potential for climate-driven treeline change. Journal of Vegetation Science 20: 1133–1144. DOI: 10.1111/j.1654-1103.2009.01114.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holtmeier F, Broll G (2005) Sensitivity and response of northern hemisphere altitudinal and polar treelines to environmental change at landscape and local scales. Global Ecology and Biogeography14: 395–410. DOI: 10.1111/j.1466-822X.2005.00168.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holtmeier FK (2009) Mountain timberlines: ecology, patchiness, and dynamics. Springer, London, UK.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson DM, Smith WK (2005) Refugial forests of the southern Appalachians: photosynthesis and survival in current-year Abies fraseri seedlings. Tree Physiology 25:1379–1387. DOI: 10.1093/treephys/25.11.1379

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jump AS, Hunt JM, Penuelas J (2007) Climate relationships of growth and establishment across the altitudinal range of Fagus sylvatica in the Montseny Mountains, northeast Spain. Ecoscience 14: 507–518. DOI: 10.2980/1195-6860(2007)14 [507:CROGAE]2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kharuk VI, Ranson KJ, Im ST, et al. (2013) Tree-Line Structure and Dynamics at the Northern Limit of the Larch Forest: Anabar Plateau, Siberia, Russia. Arctic, Antarctic and Alpine Research 45: 526–537. DOI: 10.1657/1938-4246-45.4.526

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kirdyanov AV, Hagedorn F, Knorre AA, et al. (2012) 20th century tree-line advance and vegetation changes along an altitudinal transect in the Putorana Mountains, northern Siberia. Boreas 41: 56–67. DOI: 10.1111/j.1502-3885.2011.00214.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klasner FL, Fagre DB (2002) A half century of change in alpine treeline patterns at Glacier National Park, Montana, USA. Arctic, Antarctic and Alpine Research 34: 49–56.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Körner C (2012) Alpine treelines: functional ecology of the global high elevation tree limits. Springer, Basel, Switzerland. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-0348-0396-0

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Kullman L (1986) Recent tree-limit history of Picea abies in the southern Swedish Scandes. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 16: 761–771.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kullman L (2004) The changing face of the alpine world. Global Change Newsletter 57: 12–14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kullman L (2007) Tree line population monitoring of Pinus sylvestris in the Swedish Scandes, 1973–2005: implications for tree line theory and climate change ecology. Journal of Ecology 95: 41–52. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2745.2006.01190.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kullman L, Öberg L (2009) Post-Little Ice Age tree line rise and climate warming in the Swedish Scandes: a landscape ecological perspective. Journal of Ecology 97: 415–429. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2745.2009.01488.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liang E, Wang Y, Eckstein D, et al. (2011) Little change in the fir tree-line position on the southeastern Tibetan Plateau after 200 years of warming. The New Phytologist 190: 760–769. DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-8137.2010.03623.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell TD, Jones PD (2005) An improved method of constructing a database of monthly climate observations and associated high-resolution grids. International Journal of Climatology 25: 693–712. DOI: 10.1002/joc.1181

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Motta R, Nola P (2001) Growth trends and dynamics in sub-alpine forest stands in the Varaita Valley (Piedmont, Italy) and their relationships with human activities and global change. Journal of Vegetation Science 12: 219–230. DOI: 10.2307/3236606

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Munier A, Hermanutz L, Jacobs JD, et al. (2010) The interacting effects of temperature, ground disturbance, and herbivory on seedling establishment: implications for treeline advance with climate warming. Plant Ecology 210: 19–30. DOI: 10.1007/s11258-010-9724-y

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Panigrahy S, Anitha D, Kimothi M, et al. (2010) Timberline change detection using topographic map and satellite imagery. Tropical Ecology 51: 87–91.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paulsen J, Weber U, Körner C (2000) Tree growth near treeline: Abrupt or gradual reduction with altitude? Arctic, Antarctic and Alpine Research 31: 14–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Penuelas J, Ogaya R, Boada M, et al. (2007) Migration, invasion and decline: changes in recruitment and forest structure in a warming-linked shift of European beech forest in Catalonia (NE Spain). Ecography 30: 829–837. DOI: 10.1111/j.2007.0906-7590.05247.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • R Core Team (2014) R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. Available online at: http://www.Rproject.org/ (Accessed 12 May 2014)

    Google Scholar 

  • Richardson DM, and Bond WJ (1991) Determinants of plant distribution: evidence from pine invasions. American Naturalist 137: 639–668.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schickhoff U (2005) The upper timberline in the Himalayas, Hindu Kush and Karakorum: a review of geographical and ecological aspects. In: Broll G, Keplin B (Eds.), Mountain ecosystems studies in treeline ecology. Springer, Heidelberg, Netherlands, pp 275–354.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Schickhoff U, Bobrowski M, Böhner J, et al. (2014) Do Himalayan treelines respond to recent climate change? An evaluation of sensitivity indicators. Earth System Dynamic Discussion 5: 1407–1461. DOI: 10.5194/esdd-5-1407-2014

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shi P, Wu N (2013) The Timberline Ecotone in the Himalayan Region: An Ecological Review. In High-Altitude Rangelands and their Interfaces in the Hindu Kush Himalayas. International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), Kathmandu, Nepal.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shrestha AB, Devkota LP (2010) Climate change in the Eastern Himalayas: observed trends and model projections. International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), Kathmandu, Nepal.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shrestha BB, Ghimire B, Lekhak HD, et al. (2007) Regeneration of treeline birch (Betula utilis D. Don) forest in a trans-Himalayan dry valley in central Nepal. Mountain Research and Development 27: 259–267. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1659/mrdd.0784

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shrestha KB, Hofgaard A, Vandvik V (2014) Recent treeline dynamics are similar between dry and mesic areas of Nepal, central Himalaya. Journal of Plant Ecology 1–12. DOI: 10.1093/jpe/rtu035

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith WK, Germino MJ, Hancock TE, et al. (2003) Another perspective on altitudinal limits of alpine timberlines. Tree Physiology 23: 1101–1112.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stokes MA, Smiley TL (1968) An introduction to tree-ring dating. University of Chicago Press, Chicago. USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Szeicz JM, Macdonald GM (1995) Recent white spruce dynamics at the subarctic alpine treeline of north-western Canada. Journal of Ecology 83: 873–885.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vittoz P, Rulence B, Largey T, et al. (2008) Effects of climate and land-use change on the establishment and growth of cembran pine (Pinus cembra L.) over the altitudinal treeline ecotone in the Central Swiss Alps. Arctic, Antarctic and Alpine Research 40: 225–232. DOI: 10.1657/1523-0430(06-010) [VITTOZ]2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang T, Zhang Q, Ma K (2006) Treeline dynamics in relation to climatic variability in the central Tianshan Mountains, northwestern China. Global Ecology and Biogeography 15: 406–415. DOI: 10.1111/j.1466-822X.2006.00233.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang Y, Camarero JJ, Luo T, et al. (2012) Spatial patterns of Smith fir alpine treelines on the south-eastern Tibetan Plateau support that contingent local conditions drive recent treeline patterns. Plant Ecology and Diversity 5: 311–321. DOI: 10.1080/17550874.2012.704647

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xu J, Grumbine RE, Shrestha A, et al. (2009) The melting Himalayas: cascading effects of climate change on water, biodiversity, and livelihoods. Conservation Biology 23: 520–530. DOI: 10.1111/j.1523-1739.2009.01237.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang L, Luo T, Liu X, et al. (2010) Altitudinal variations in seedling and sapling density and age structure of timberline tree species in the Sergyemla Mountains, southeast Tibet. Acta Ecologica Sinica 30: 76–80. DOI: 10.1016/j.chnaes.2010.03.005

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhao Z, Eamus D, Yu Q, et al. (2012) Climate constraints on growth and recruitment patterns of Abies faxoniana over altitudinal gradients in the Wanglang Natural Reserve, eastern Tibetan Plateau. Australian Journal of Botany 60: 602–614. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/BT12051

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843-3147, USA

    Parveen Kumar Chhetri & David M. Cairns

Authors
  1. Parveen Kumar Chhetri
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. David M. Cairns
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Parveen Kumar Chhetri.

Additional information

http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8103-4541

http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4110-196X

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Chhetri, P.K., Cairns, D.M. Contemporary and historic population structure of Abies spectabilis at treeline in Barun valley, eastern Nepal Himalaya. J. Mt. Sci. 12, 558–570 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-015-3454-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-015-3454-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation