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.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
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
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
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
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.
Camarero JJ, Gutierrez E (1999) Structure and recent recruitment at alpine forest-pasture ecotones in the Spanish central Pyrenees. Ecoscience 6: 451–464.
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
Carpenter C, Zomer R (1996) Forest ecology of the Makalu-Barun National Park and Conservation Area, Nepal. Mountain Research and Development 16: 135–148.
Dalen L, Hofgaard A (2005) Differential regional treeline dynamics in the Scandes Mountains. Arctic, Antarctic and Alpine Research 37: 284–296.
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
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
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
Dubey B, Yadav RR, Singh J, et al.(2003) Upward shift of Himalayan pine in Western Himalaya, India. Current Science 85:1135–1136.
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
Engelmark O (1987) Fire history correlations to forest type and topography in northern Sweden. Annales Botanici Fennici 24:317–324.
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Holtmeier FK (2009) Mountain timberlines: ecology, patchiness, and dynamics. Springer, London, UK.
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
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
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
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
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.
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
Kullman L (1986) Recent tree-limit history of Picea abies in the southern Swedish Scandes. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 16: 761–771.
Kullman L (2004) The changing face of the alpine world. Global Change Newsletter 57: 12–14.
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
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
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
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
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
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
Panigrahy S, Anitha D, Kimothi M, et al. (2010) Timberline change detection using topographic map and satellite imagery. Tropical Ecology 51: 87–91.
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.
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
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)
Richardson DM, and Bond WJ (1991) Determinants of plant distribution: evidence from pine invasions. American Naturalist 137: 639–668.
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.
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
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.
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.
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
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
Smith WK, Germino MJ, Hancock TE, et al. (2003) Another perspective on altitudinal limits of alpine timberlines. Tree Physiology 23: 1101–1112.
Stokes MA, Smiley TL (1968) An introduction to tree-ring dating. University of Chicago Press, Chicago. USA.
Szeicz JM, Macdonald GM (1995) Recent white spruce dynamics at the subarctic alpine treeline of north-western Canada. Journal of Ecology 83: 873–885.
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
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
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
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
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
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
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Rights and permissions
About this article
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
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-015-3454-5