Responses of Montane Forest to Climate Variability in the Central Himalayas of Nepal

• Published in: Mountain research and development Vol. 35; no. 1; pp. 66 - 77
• Main Authors: Mainali, Janardan, All, John, Jha, Pramod Kumar, Bhuju, Dinesh Raj
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Centre for Development and Environment (CDE), Institute of Geography, University of Bern Hallerstrasse 10, CH–3012 Bern, Switzerland The International Mountain Society 01.02.2015; International Mountain Society
• Subjects: Air temperature; altitude; Ambient temperature; Biodiversity; Climate change; Climate models; Climate variability; climatic factors; Coniferous forests; Deciduous forests; Ecosystems; ecotones; environmental impact; Environmental protection; Forest communities; Forest growth; forest types; Forests; Growing season; Growth conditions; latitude; Manaslu Conservation Area (MCA); Mixed forests; Montane forests; Mountain forests; MountainResearch; mountains; Nepal; normalized difference vegetation index; Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI); Phenology; Precipitation; rain; Remote sensing; Seasons; Surface temperature; Systems knowledge; treeline; Trees; Trends; Vegetation; Vegetation change; vigor; Wilderness areas; Winter; Nepal; Pakistan, Himalayas

Climate changes are having dramatic ecological impacts in mid- to high-latitude mountain ranges where growth conditions are limited by climatic variables such as duration of growing season, moisture, and ambient temperature. We document patterns of forest vegetative response for 5 major alpine fores...