Transboundary Landscape
1 Follower
Recent papers in Transboundary Landscape
This paper explores possible ways to integrate conservation and development in transboundary landscapes of Hindu Kush Himalaya region based on review of various documents across the region. Acknowledging trade-offs for achieving twin... more
This paper explores possible ways to integrate conservation and development in transboundary landscapes of Hindu Kush Himalaya region based on review of various documents across the region. Acknowledging trade-offs for achieving twin goals sets the stage for negotiation and collaboration amongst multiple stakeholders to draw agreements on particular strategies. The strategies include engaging stakeholders and political organizations at different scales, their capacity building, establishing nested collaborative structures, strengthening existing institutions and institutional linkages within and across international borders, developing market based incentives for local communities, building trust amongst stakeholders and partnerships with the private sectors.
With main purpose of developing a coherent baseline information of timberline forests of Sikkim, Eastern Himalaya, we investigated, (i) forest structure and composition, (ii) regener-ation status of dominant timberline tree species... more
With main purpose of developing a coherent baseline information of timberline forests of Sikkim, Eastern Himalaya, we investigated, (i) forest structure and composition, (ii) regener-ation status of dominant timberline tree species between timberline and treeline, (iii) influence of environmental variables in species composition, and (iv) relationship between environmental variables and ecological attributes. The study was conducted along the tim-berline stretch of Dzongri landscape nested within the Khangchendzonga National Park (UNESCO's World Heritage Site, 2016), a core zone of Khangchendzonga Biosphere Reserve (in UNESCO WNBRs, 2018), Sikkim, India. We employed quadrat method to sample 9 contiguous sites to capture all possible variations in timberline composition. Transect method was used to study the regeneration of woody taxa between timberline to treeline. In total, 20 woody species belonging to 10 genera and 6 families were recorded. Among these, Abies densa, Rhododendron lanatum and Sorbus microphylla exhibited higher dominance, comprising of 50% of the total importance value index (IVI) weightage. Betula utilis the common treeline species in much of the western and central parts of Himalaya was absent here. Tree density in studied timberline was significantly higher than its western Himalayan counterparts of Indian Himalayan region. Environmental variables viz., elevation, slope, and humus were observed determinants of species composition across the study area. The species dominance correlated negatively (p<0.01; n = 9) with species diversity and richness. We observed an irregular spatial pattern of timberline across the 9 study sites, and the extent of timberline elements (seedling; sapling; live tree or dead tree) ranged between 5.3m to 187.7m higher than the current timberline at different sites. The present trends suggest that upslope advancement is unlikely to occur in near future, while treeline densification is anticipated. Further investigations are suggested to develop a holistic understating of these timberline patterns across the Indian Himalayan region. PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.