This book brings together comprehensive multi-disciplinary knowledge on diverse aspects of the Himalayan treeline ecotone which is considered one of the most sensitive ecosystems to climate change. The contents of this book are based on the results of extensive research and provide a holistic understanding of the treeline ecotone in Himalaya. The book will serve as an important reference manual and a textbook on treeline ecology. The book is unique in the sense that it provides an engaging account of almost all the aspects of the treeline ecotone, such as taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic species diversity, temperature lapse rates, tree phenology, water relations, and stress physiology, tree ring width chronology, and climate relationships and the role of treeline ecotone in human sustenance in the Indian Himalayan region The treelines in the Himalaya, being the highest in the Northern Hemisphere (up to 4900 m), are among the least investigated systems and hence this book is timely and fills all-important knowledge gaps vis-à-vis treeline shifts, physiognomic, structural, and functional changes in mountain landscapes and ecosystems, particularly under the changing climate This book, for the first time, summarizes evidence-based knowledge about various aspects of treeline ecotone in Himalaya that was largely generated through a well-coordinated a team science approach. The book will be of interest to ecologists, climatologists, dendrochronologists, foresters, plant physiologists and resource managers and policy planners for a better understanding of the organization and dynamics of this fragile ecosystem in relation to climate change and other anthropogenic stresses that are rampant in the Himalaya. The book lays a solid foundation for further investigation of the ecology and dynamics of the treeline ecotone in the Himalayas and provides a rationale for pursuing a team science approach for macroecological investigations.

This volume focuses on interaction between vegetation, relief, climate, soil and fauna in the treeline ecotone, and the effects of climate change and land use in North America and Europe.

This book provides information essential for anyone interested in climate and environmental change of the Himalayan region, including land and resource managers, environmental planners, conservationists, environmentalists, geographers, climatologists, ecologists, and students. The book is unique in its coverage of the current understanding of the science of climate change in the Himalayan mountain system and of the major impacts on physical systems and ecosystems. The book gives an overview of the physical science basis of climate change and explains drivers and processes of glacier and vegetation dynamics. The book covers relevant aspects of accelerated climate change observed in the Himalayan mountain system, and highlights the regional differentiation of climatic changes and associated environmental modifications. The focus is on climate variability and change, and how physical systems and ecosystems respond to climate change impacts. Consequences include impacts on physical systems such as glacier shrinkage, glacial lake outburst floods, altered hydrological characteristics, permafrost warming and thawing, and mass movements on slopes. Climate change is also a powerful stressor on ecosystems and induces range shifts of plant and animal species and alterations in terms of phenology, biomass, plant cover, plant group dominance and species composition. Thus, ecosystem structure and functioning will be strongly affected. The book has an introductory chapter followed by a section on climate change, a section on impacts on glaciers and hydrology, and a section on vegetation dynamics. Each section has several chapters presenting key concepts, major drivers and key processes of environmental change in the Himalayan region from different perspectives. Climate change impacts in the Himalaya have not been studied in much detail, and respective findings were not presented so far in a comprehensive overview. This book summarizes the current knowledge of interactions between climate change and the dynamics of glaciers, hydrology, and vegetation.

The present volume emphasizes the importance of studying the structure and functioning of ecological systems and their mode of reaction on exposure to human intervention in the Himalayas. It stresses the impact of man on his environment and vice-versa, considered in the areas of biological and adaptative entity, as well as a social, cultural and economic being.

This volume focuses on interaction between vegetation, relief, climate, soil and fauna in the treeline ecotone, and the effects of climate change and land use in North America and Europe.

The alpine treeline ecotone (ATE) is an area of transition high on mountains where closed canopy forests from lower elevations give way to the open alpine tundra and rocky expanses above. Alpine tundra is an island biome and its ecotone with forest is subject to change, and like oceanic islands, alpine tundra is subject to invasion – or the upward advance of treeline. The invasion of tundra by trees will have consequences for the tundra biome as invasion does for other island flora and fauna. To examine the invasibility of tundra we take a plant’s-eye-view, wherein the local conditions become extremely important. Among these local conditions, we find geomorphology to be exceptionally important. We concentrate on aspects of microtopography (and microgeomorphology) and microclimate because these are the factors that matter: from the plant’s-eye-view, but we pay attention to multiple scales. At coarse scales, snow avalanches and debris flows are widespread and create “disturbance treelines whose elevation is well below those controlled by climate. At medium scales, turf-banked terraces create tread-and-riser topography that is a difficult landscape for a tree seedling to survive upon because of exposure to wind, dryness, and impenetrable surfaces. At fine scales, turf exfoliation of the fronts of turf-banked risers, and boulders, offer microsites where tree seedlings may find shelter and are able to gain a foothold in the alpine tundra; conversely, however, surfaces of needle-ice pans and frost heaving associated with miniature patterned ground production are associated with sites inimical to seedling establishment or survival. We explicitly consider how local scale processes propagate across scales into landscape patterns. The objective of this book is to examine the controls on change at alpine treeline. All the papers are focused on work done in Glacier National Park, Montana, USA. Although any one place is limiting, we are able to examine the alpine treeline here in some detail – and an advantage is that the treeline ecotone in Glacier National Park is quite variable in itself due to the underlying variability in geomorphology at multiple scales. This book will provide insights into an important ecological phenomenon with a distinctly geomorphic perspective. The editors collectively have over 100 years of experience in working in geomorphology, biogeography, and ecology. They also have each worked on research in Glacier National Park for several decades. The book will be a reference for a variety of professionals and students, both graduate and undergraduate, with interests in Physical Geography, Geomorphology, Ecology, and Environmental Science. Because of the importance of the alpine treeline ecotone for recreation and aesthetic interests in mountain environments, wildland and park managers will also use this book. * Subject matter: geomorphology at alpine treeline* Expertise of contributors: each editor brings over 25 years of experience in studies of ecotones and geomorphology, and collectively over 100 years of experience in Glacier National Park* Changing alpine treeline examines climate change