Alpine vegetation community patterns in the Khumbu region, Nepalese Himalaya
ABSTRACTThe Himalayan alpine zone (HAZ)—a high-altitude zone above approximately 4,100 m.a.s.l., is projected to experience strong eco-environmental changes with climate change. As plants expand their range in this region, other processes are likely to be impacted; for example, flows and stores of w...
Published in: | Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Taylor & Francis Group
2024
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1080/15230430.2024.2309686 https://doaj.org/article/453a5d6e31294f00a02f0c27fffaaf63 |
id |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:453a5d6e31294f00a02f0c27fffaaf63 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:453a5d6e31294f00a02f0c27fffaaf63 2024-09-15T17:49:03+00:00 Alpine vegetation community patterns in the Khumbu region, Nepalese Himalaya Ruolin Leng Stephan Harrison Elizabeth A. Byers Mahesh Magar Harkrei Rai Ram Raj Rijal Karen Anderson 2024-12-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1080/15230430.2024.2309686 https://doaj.org/article/453a5d6e31294f00a02f0c27fffaaf63 EN eng Taylor & Francis Group https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/15230430.2024.2309686 https://doaj.org/toc/1523-0430 https://doaj.org/toc/1938-4246 doi:10.1080/15230430.2024.2309686 1938-4246 1523-0430 https://doaj.org/article/453a5d6e31294f00a02f0c27fffaaf63 Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, Vol 56, Iss 1 (2024) Alpine vegetation Himalayan alpine zone land cover classification remote sensing climate change Environmental sciences GE1-350 Ecology QH540-549.5 article 2024 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1080/15230430.2024.2309686 2024-08-05T17:49:59Z ABSTRACTThe Himalayan alpine zone (HAZ)—a high-altitude zone above approximately 4,100 m.a.s.l., is projected to experience strong eco-environmental changes with climate change. As plants expand their range in this region, other processes are likely to be impacted; for example, flows and stores of water. A first vital step in conceptualizing HAZ ecohydrology is to understand the distribution pattern of HAZ vegetation communities. Satellite remote sensing provides one means of doing so, but the often patchy distribution of alpine vegetation creates challenges when using coarse-grained satellite data whose pixels are typically coarser than the grain of vegetation pattern. Here we use fine spatial resolution satellite imagery from WorldView-2 (2 m2 per pixel) coupled with elevation model data from the Copernicus GLO-30 product to produce a land cover classification for the HAZ. Field data captured during in situ surveys in the Gokyo valley, Nepal, were used to drive and then test a random forest classifier. Grassy meadows and dwarf shrubs belonging to the Rhododendron and Juniperus families dominate the ecology of the alpine zone in this region, so we created three vegetation classes for mapping indicative major plant communities dominated by these species. We found that altitude and aspect were dominant drivers of vegetation distribution in the HAZ and that the average vegetation cover of Rhododendron spp. and Juniperus spp. reduces with increasing altitude, as expected. South- and east-facing slopes were dominated by Juniperus spp., whereas north- and west-facing slopes were dominated by Rhododendron spp., and the growth extent of Rhododendron spp. (between 4,010 and 4,820 m.a.s.l.) and meadow (between 4,010 and 4,680 m.a.s.l.) were vertically wider than that of Juniperus spp. (between 4,010 and 4,660 m.a.s.l.). Results from this study demonstrate the vegetation distribution pattern in HAZ at the plant community level and provide an impetus for further studies that seek to understand ecohydrological interactions ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarctic and Alpine Research Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research 56 1 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Alpine vegetation Himalayan alpine zone land cover classification remote sensing climate change Environmental sciences GE1-350 Ecology QH540-549.5 |
spellingShingle |
Alpine vegetation Himalayan alpine zone land cover classification remote sensing climate change Environmental sciences GE1-350 Ecology QH540-549.5 Ruolin Leng Stephan Harrison Elizabeth A. Byers Mahesh Magar Harkrei Rai Ram Raj Rijal Karen Anderson Alpine vegetation community patterns in the Khumbu region, Nepalese Himalaya |
topic_facet |
Alpine vegetation Himalayan alpine zone land cover classification remote sensing climate change Environmental sciences GE1-350 Ecology QH540-549.5 |
description |
ABSTRACTThe Himalayan alpine zone (HAZ)—a high-altitude zone above approximately 4,100 m.a.s.l., is projected to experience strong eco-environmental changes with climate change. As plants expand their range in this region, other processes are likely to be impacted; for example, flows and stores of water. A first vital step in conceptualizing HAZ ecohydrology is to understand the distribution pattern of HAZ vegetation communities. Satellite remote sensing provides one means of doing so, but the often patchy distribution of alpine vegetation creates challenges when using coarse-grained satellite data whose pixels are typically coarser than the grain of vegetation pattern. Here we use fine spatial resolution satellite imagery from WorldView-2 (2 m2 per pixel) coupled with elevation model data from the Copernicus GLO-30 product to produce a land cover classification for the HAZ. Field data captured during in situ surveys in the Gokyo valley, Nepal, were used to drive and then test a random forest classifier. Grassy meadows and dwarf shrubs belonging to the Rhododendron and Juniperus families dominate the ecology of the alpine zone in this region, so we created three vegetation classes for mapping indicative major plant communities dominated by these species. We found that altitude and aspect were dominant drivers of vegetation distribution in the HAZ and that the average vegetation cover of Rhododendron spp. and Juniperus spp. reduces with increasing altitude, as expected. South- and east-facing slopes were dominated by Juniperus spp., whereas north- and west-facing slopes were dominated by Rhododendron spp., and the growth extent of Rhododendron spp. (between 4,010 and 4,820 m.a.s.l.) and meadow (between 4,010 and 4,680 m.a.s.l.) were vertically wider than that of Juniperus spp. (between 4,010 and 4,660 m.a.s.l.). Results from this study demonstrate the vegetation distribution pattern in HAZ at the plant community level and provide an impetus for further studies that seek to understand ecohydrological interactions ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Ruolin Leng Stephan Harrison Elizabeth A. Byers Mahesh Magar Harkrei Rai Ram Raj Rijal Karen Anderson |
author_facet |
Ruolin Leng Stephan Harrison Elizabeth A. Byers Mahesh Magar Harkrei Rai Ram Raj Rijal Karen Anderson |
author_sort |
Ruolin Leng |
title |
Alpine vegetation community patterns in the Khumbu region, Nepalese Himalaya |
title_short |
Alpine vegetation community patterns in the Khumbu region, Nepalese Himalaya |
title_full |
Alpine vegetation community patterns in the Khumbu region, Nepalese Himalaya |
title_fullStr |
Alpine vegetation community patterns in the Khumbu region, Nepalese Himalaya |
title_full_unstemmed |
Alpine vegetation community patterns in the Khumbu region, Nepalese Himalaya |
title_sort |
alpine vegetation community patterns in the khumbu region, nepalese himalaya |
publisher |
Taylor & Francis Group |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1080/15230430.2024.2309686 https://doaj.org/article/453a5d6e31294f00a02f0c27fffaaf63 |
genre |
Antarctic and Alpine Research Arctic |
genre_facet |
Antarctic and Alpine Research Arctic |
op_source |
Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, Vol 56, Iss 1 (2024) |
op_relation |
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/15230430.2024.2309686 https://doaj.org/toc/1523-0430 https://doaj.org/toc/1938-4246 doi:10.1080/15230430.2024.2309686 1938-4246 1523-0430 https://doaj.org/article/453a5d6e31294f00a02f0c27fffaaf63 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1080/15230430.2024.2309686 |
container_title |
Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research |
container_volume |
56 |
container_issue |
1 |
_version_ |
1810290751652757504 |