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The Forest Ecotone Effect on Species Richness in an Arid Trans-Himalayan Landscape of Nepal

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Abstract

Changes in species composition and richness across the sub-alpine forest ecotone are well known phenomena. The total number of species at a regional scale drops substantially above the forest-line in the central Himalayas of Nepal. This study tests the effect of a forest border ecotone on a local scale using a grain size of 100 m2. We sampled a set of vertical transects across a sloping sub-alpine forest line where canopy and temperature covary, and a set of horizontal transects across a forest ecotone where there was no altitudinal difference to eliminate the influence of temperature. Detrended correspondence analysis revealed a continuous change in species composition across the forest border ecotone. Species turnover was, in general, low, and species richness did not vary very much between the forest and open landscapes. We attribute this to the grazing and browsing pressure in the area, which may have lowered the tree line. A reduced tree line compared to the climatic limit may facilitate enhanced species richness above the forest line. There was no significant difference in species richness between forest and open landscapes along horizontal transects where temperature variations were minimized. This study exemplifies the difficulties encountered on a local scale when one aims to test diversity hypotheses deduced from general models on forest-ecotone effect and mass effect. The low species turnover and minor differences in alpha diversity may be because the area is a cultural landscape and the homogenizing effect of domestic animals overrides some of the edge effects of the ecotone.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Shishir Poudel and Narayan Shrestha for accompanying us during the field work. We are grateful to Prof. John Birks and other members of Environmental and Ecological Change Research Group (EECRG) for constructive comments on early drafts of this paper. Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP) is acknowledged for permission to undertake field work. State Education Loan Fund (Lånekassen), The Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Science at the University of Bergen supported fieldwork for both the authors. Cathy Jenks is acknowledged for improvement of the language.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of Bergen, Allegaten 41, N-5007, Bergen, Norway

    Krishna B. Shrestha

  2. UNIFOB–Global, University of Bergen, PB 7800, 5020, Bergen, Norway

    Ole Reidar Vetaas

Authors
  1. Krishna B. Shrestha
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  2. Ole Reidar Vetaas
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Correspondence to Ole Reidar Vetaas.

Appendix 1

Appendix 1

Species names and abbreviations used in Fig. 3

Nr.

Full name of the species

Species Abbreviation

1

Anaphalis cuneifolia

Anap cun

2

Androsace sp.

Andr sp.

3

Androsace strigillosa

Andr str

4

Aster himalaicus

Aste him

5

Aster indamellus (A. pseudamellus)

Aste ind

6

Astragalus rhizanthus

Astr rhi

7

Berberis aristata var. floribunda

Berb ari

8

Berberis concinna

Berb con

9

Bupleurum tenue

Bupl ten

10

Carex sp.

Care sp.

11

Cotoneaster microphyllus

Coto mic

12

Cotoneaster sp.

Coto sp.

13

Gentiana robusta

Gent rob

14

Juniperus indica

Juni ind

15

Juniperus squamata

Juni squ

16

Lactuca lessertiana

Lact les

17

Lonicera myrtillus

Loni myr

18

Pinus wallichiana

Pinu wal

19

Polygonatum cirrhifolium

Poly cir

20

Selinum tenuifolium

Seli ten

21

Spiraea arcuata

Spir arc

22

Stellera chamaejasme

Stel cam

23

Stipa sp.

Stip sp.1

24

Tanacetum nubigenum

Tana nub

25

Thalictrum foetidum

Thal foe

26

Thymus linearis

Thym lin

27

Trigonella emodi

Trig emo

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Shrestha, K.B., Vetaas, O.R. The Forest Ecotone Effect on Species Richness in an Arid Trans-Himalayan Landscape of Nepal. Folia Geobot 44, 247–262 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12224-009-9046-9

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