Current Science

Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access

Long-Term Ecological Monitoring and Observation: A Review in the Context of Indian Himalaya


Affiliations
1 G.B. Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment (GBP-NIHE), Almora 263 643, India
 

Long-term experiments are essential in understanding the ecological consequences of global land use and climate change. Further, it is well established that long-term data sets are prerequisites for effective management of forest resources and biodiversity conservation. In view of this, the present study attempts to contribute to major global long-term ecological monitoring (LTEM) networks and the status of LTEM studies in India with a special focus on Indian Himalayan Region. Over the last 40 years, around 103 countries from the America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia have been engaged in LTEM studies on various aspects of biodiversity, monitoring and predicting climate change impacts in a range of ecosystems, including the mountains. The temporal distribution of past studies on the subject shows a gradual increasing pattern (3 papers in 1992) with a peak during 2021 (105 papers). The established LTEM networks across the globe provide a significant empirical basis for understanding ecosystem structure and dynamics. Literature indicates plenty of permanent monitoring plots from India, mostly from southern India, and their significant contribution to ecosystem understanding. Himalayan regions are important sites for monitoring biological and socio-ecological responses to environmental perturbations, including climate change. LTEM studies are lacking in the IHR; only a few sites have been established, mostly in alpine ecosystems. This review identifies research gaps, opportunities with respect to LTEM studies, and the possibilities for strengthening long-term research and observation in India in general and the Himalaya in particular.

Keywords

Alpine Ecosystem, Biodiversity Conservation, Forest Management, Himalaya, Long-Term Ecological Monitoring, Long-Term Observations.
User
Notifications
Font Size

  • Lindenmayer, D. B. et al., Value of long‐term ecological studies. Austral Ecol., 2012, 37(7), 745–757.

  • Cusser, S., Helms, I. V., Bahlai, C. A. and Haddad, N. M., How long do population level field experiments need to be? utilising data from the 40‐year‐old LTER network. Ecol. Lett., 2021, 24(5), 1103–1111.

  • Lindenmayer, D., Burns, E., Thurgate, N. and Lowe, A. J., The value of long-term research and how to design effective ecological research and monitoring. In Biodiversity and Environmental Change: Monitoring, Challenges and Direction (eds Lindenmayer, D. et al.), CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne, 2014.

  • Haase, P. et al., The next generation of site-based long-term ecological monitoring: linking essential biodiversity variables and ecosystem integrity. Sci. Total Environ., 2018, 613, 1376–1384.

  • Mirtl, M. et al., Genesis, goals and achievements of long-term ecological research at the global scale: a critical review of ILTER and future directions. Sci. Total Environ., 2018, 626, 1439–1462.

  • Phillips, O., Baker, T., Feldpausch, T. and Brienen, R., Field Manual for Plot Establishment and Remeasurement. RAINFOR. Pan-Amazonia, 2021.

  • Moonlight, P. W. et al., Expanding tropical forest monitoring into dry forests: the DRYFLOR protocol for permanent plots. Plant. People Planet, 2021, 3(3), 295–300.

  • Chawla, A., Yadav, P. K., Uniyal, S. K., Kumar, A., Vats, S. K., Kumar, S. and Ahuja, P. S., Long-term ecological and biodiversity monitoring in the western Himalaya using satellite remote sensing. Curr. Sci., 2012, 103, 1143–1156.

  • Burns, E. L. et al., Making monitoring work: insights and lessons from Australia’s long term ecological research network. Aust. Zool., 2018, 39(4), 755–768.

  • Naald Vander, B. P., Sergeant, C. J. and Beaudreau, A. H., Public perception and valuation of long‐term ecological monitoring. Ecosphere, 2019, 10, e02875.

  • Negi, V. S., Pathak, R., Rawal, R. S., Bhatt, I. D. and Sharma, S., Long-term ecological monitoring on forest ecosystems in Indian Himalayan Region: criteria and indicator approach. Ecol. Indic., 2019, 102, 374–381.

  • Hubau, W. et al., Asynchronous carbon sink saturation in African and Amazonian tropical forests. Nature, 2020, 579(7797), 80–87.

  • Seidler, R. et al., Confronting ethical challenges in long-term research programs in the tropics. Biol. Conserv., 2021, 255, 108933.

  • Fischer, M. et al., Implementing large-scale and long-term functional biodiversity research: the biodiversity exploratories. Basic Appl. Ecol., 2010, 11(6), 473–485.

  • Lepistö, A., Futter, M. N. and Kortelainen, P., Almost 50 years of monitoring shows that climate, not forestry, controls long‐term organic carbon fluxes in a large boreal watershed. Glob. Change Biol., 2014, 20(4), 1225–1237.

  • Anderson‐Teixeira, K. J. et al., CTFS‐Forest GEO: a worldwide network monitoring forests in an era of global change. Glob. Change Biol., 2015, 21(2), 528–549.

  • Davies, S. J. et al., ForestGEO: Understanding forest diversity and dynamics through a global observatory network. Biol. Conserv., 2021, 253, 108907.

  • Tewari, V. P., Sukumar, R., Kumar, R. and Gadow, K., Forest observational studies in India: past developments and considerations for the future. Forest Ecol. Manage., 2014, 316, 32–46.

  • Rai, N. D. et al., Beyond fortress conservation: the long-term integration of natural and social science research for an inclusive conservation practice in India. Biol. Conserv., 2021, 254, 108888.

  • Mathauda, G. S., The unevenaged Sal Forest of Ram Nagar forest division, Uttar Pradesh: their constitution, rate of growth and drain along with empirical yield and stand table for selection type of Sal crops. Indian For., 1958, 84(5), 255–269.

  • Rai, S. N., Rate of diameter growth and age/diameter relationship of Vitex altissima and Lannea coromandelica in moist deciduous forests of Karnataka. Indian J. Ecol., 1979, 6(1), 20–29.

  • Rai, S. N., Rate of diameter increment of Terminalia paniculata and Lagesrteroemia. Indian For., 1980, 106(12), 856–864.

  • Rai, S. N., Rate of growth of some evergreen species. Indian For., 1981, 108(8), 513–518.

  • Sukumar, R., Dattaraja, H. S., Sures, H. S., Radhakrishnan, J., Vasudeva, R., Nirmala, S. and Joshi, N. V., Long term monitoring of vegetation in a tropical deciduous forest in Mudumalai, southern India. Curr. Sci., 1992, 62(9), 608–616.

  • Shrestha, U. B., Gautam, S. and Bawa, K. S., Widespread climate change in the Himalayas and associated changes in local ecosystems. PLoS ONE, 2012, 7(5), e36741.

  • Negi, V. S., Tiwari, D. C., Singh, L., Thakur, S. and Bhatt, I. D., Review and synthesis of climate change studies in the Himalayan region. Environ. Dev. Sustain., 2021, 24(9), 10471–10502.

  • Singh, D. K. and Hajra, P. K., Floristic diversity. In Changing Perspectives of Biodiversity Status in the Himalaya (eds Gujral, G. S. and Sharma, V.), British Council, New Delhi, 1996.

  • IPCC, Climate change the scientific basis, Working Group I contribution to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment Report, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2007.

  • Chettri, N. et al., Long-term environmental and socio-ecological monitoring in transboundary landscapes: an interdisciplinary implementation framework. International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), Nepal, 2015.

  • Blundo, C. et al., Taking the pulse of Earth’s tropical forests using networks of highly distributed plots. Biol. Conserv., 2021, 260, 108849.

  • López-González, J. A., del Carmen, Vargas-García, M., López, M. J., Suárez-Estrella, F., del Mar Jurado, M. and Moreno, J., Biodiversity and succession of mycobiota associated to agricultural ligno-cellulosic waste-based composting. Bioresour. Technol., 2015, 187, 305–313.

  • Tans, P. and Keeling, C. D., Trends in atmospheric carbon dioxide. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Earth System Research Laboratory (NOAA/ESRL) and Scripps Institution of Oceanography, 2014; http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/index.html#mlo_growth

  • Swenson, N. G. et al., Temporal turnover in the composition of tropical tree communities: functional determinism and phylogenetic stochasticity. Ecology, 2012, 93(3), 490–499.

  • Chisholm, R. A. et al., Temporal variability of forest communities: empirical estimates of population change in 4000 tree species. Ecol. Lett., 2014, 17(7), 855–865.

  • Phillips, O. L. et al., Pattern and process in Amazon tree turnover, 1976–2001. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. London, Ser. B: Biol. Sci., 2004, 359(1443), 381–407.

  • Borer, E. T., Grace, J. B., Harpole, W. S., MacDougall, A. S. and Seabloom, E. W., A decade of insights into grassland ecosystem responses to global environmental change. Nat. Ecol. Evol., 2017, 1(5), 1–7.

  • Mortensen, B. et al., Herbivores safeguard plant diversity by reducing variability in dominance. J. Ecol., 2018, 106(1), 101–112.

  • Rejou-Mechain, M. et al., Local spatial structure of forest biomass and its consequences for remote sensing of carbon stocks. Biogeosciences, 2014, 11(23), 6827–6840.

  • Tripathi, S. K., The need for establishing long-term ecological research stations network in India. Curr. Sci., 2010, 98(1), 21–22.

  • Indian Long Term Ecological Observatories, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India, 2015, pp. 1–52.

  • Sundareshwar, P. V. et al., Environmental monitoring network for India. Science, 2007, 316(5822), 204–205.

  • Suresh, H. S., Dattaraja, H. S. and Sukumar, R., Relationship between annual rainfall and tree mortality in a tropical dry forest: results of a 19-year study at Mudumalai, southern India. For. Ecol. Manage., 2010, 259(4), 762–769.

  • Pelissier, R., Pascal, J. P., Ayyappan, N., Ramesh, B. R., Aravajy, S. and Ramalingam, S. R., Tree demography in an undisturbed Dipterocarp permanent sample plot at Uppangala, Western Ghats of India. Ecology, 2011, 92(6), 1376.

  • Dattaraja, H. S., Pulla, S., Suresh, H. S., Nagaraja, M. S., Srinivasa, Murthy, C. A. and Sukumar, R., Woody plant diversity in relation to environmental factors in a seasonally dry tropical forest landscape. J. Veg. Sci., 2018, 29(4), 704–714.

  • Mondal, N. and Sukumar, R., Fires in seasonally dry tropical forest: testing the varying constraints hypothesis across a regional rainfall gradient. PLoS ONE, 2016, 11(7), e0159691.

  • Tewari, V. P., Forest inventory, assessment, and monitoring, and long term forest observational studies, with special reference to India. Forest Sci. Technol., 2016, 12(1), 24–32.

  • Hamid, M., Khuroo, A. A., Malik, A. H., Ahmad, R., Singh, C. P., Dolezal, J. and Haq, S. M., Early evidence of shifts in Alpine summit vegetation: a case study from Kashmir Himalaya. Front. Plant Sci., 2020, 11, 421.

  • Ayyappan, N. and Parthasarathy, N., Biodiversity inventory of trees in a large-scale permanent plot of tropical evergreen forest at Varagalaiar, Anamalais, Western Ghats, India. Biodivers. Conserv., 1999, 8(11), 1533–1554.

  • Verrall, B., Green, K. and Pickering, C. M., Dynamics in plant diversity and composition on Australian alpine summits over time. Biodivers. Conserv., 2021, 30(6), 1855–1880.

  • Pauli, H. et al., The GLORIA Field Manual – Standard Multi-Summit Approach, Supplementary Methods and Extra Approaches. GLORIA-Coordination, Austrian Academy of Sciences and University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, 2015, 5th edn, pp. 1-137.

  • Lamprecht, A., Pauli, H., Fernández Calzado, M. R., Lorite, J., Molero Mesa, J., Steinbauer, K. and Winkler, M., Changes in plant diversity in a water-limited and isolated high-mountain range (Sierra Nevada, Spain). Alp. Bot., 2021, 131(1), 27–39.

  • Nicklas, L. et al., Climate change affects vegetation differently on siliceous and calcareous summits of the European Alps. Front. Ecol. Evol., 2021, 9, 198.

  • Kazakis, G., Ghosn, D., Remoundou, I., Nyktas, P., Talias, M. A. and Vogiatzakis, I. N., Altitudinal vascular plant richness and climate change in the alpine zone of the Lefka Ori, Crete. Diversity, 2021, 13(1), 22.

  • Sekar, K. C. et al., First GLORIA site in Indian Himalayan region: towards addressing issue of long-term data deficiency in the Himalaya. Natl. Acad. Sci. Lett., 2017, 40(5), 355–357.

  • Malik, Z. A. and Nautiyal, M. C., Himadri site in Uttarakhand-I. ENVIS Newsl. Himal. Ecol., 2015, 12(2), 6.

  • Naidu, S., Joshi, A., Mehta, P. and Sahrma, S., Himadri site in Uttarakhand-II. ENVIS Newsl. Himal. Ecol., 2015, 12(2), 7.

  • Verma, A., Kumar, S. and Ahmed, M., Himadri site in Himachal Pradesh. ENVIS Newsl. Himal. Ecol., 2015, 12(2), 5.

  • Hamid, M., Khuroo, A. A., Malik, A. H., Ahmad, R., Singh, C. P., Dolezal, J. and Haq, S. M., Early evidence of shifts in Alpine summit vegetation: a case study from Kashmir Himalaya. Front. Plant Sci., 2020, 11, 421.

  • Ali, S., Pandey, P. K. and Tripathi, O. P., Himadri site in Arunachal Pradesh. ENVIS Newsl. Himal. Ecol., 2015, 12(2), 6.

  • Khuroo, A. A. and Hamid, M., Himadri site in Kashmir Himalaya. ENVIS Newsl. Himal. Ecol., 2015, 12(2), 6.

  • Murali, K. S. and Sukumar, R., Reproductive phenology of a tropical dry forest in Mudumalai, southern India. J. Ecol., 1994, 82(4), 759–767.

  • Suresh, H. S. and Sukumar, R., Influence of climatic variability on tree phenology in the tropical dry forests of Mudumalai, southern India. In Proceedings of the FORTROP II: Tropical Forestry Change in a Changing World, 17–20 November 2008, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand, 2008, pp. 39–61.

  • Condit, R., Hubbell, S. P., Lafrankie, J. V., Sukumar, R., Manokaran, N., Foster, R. B. and Ashton, P. S., Species-area and species-individual relationships for tropical trees: a comparison of three 50-ha plots. J. Ecol., 1996, 84(4), 549–562.

  • Condit, R. et al., Spatial patterns in the distribution of tropical tree species. Science, 2000, 288(5470), 1414–1418.

  • Condit, R. et al., The importance of demographic niches to tree diversity. Science, 2006, 313 (5783), 98–101.

  • de Lima, R. A. et al., Making forest data fair and open. Nat. Ecol. Evol., 2022, 11, 1–3.

  • Bacaro, G. et al., Shape matters in sampling plant diversity: evidence from the field. Ecol. Complex., 2015, 24, 37–45.

  • Peereman, J., Hogan, J. A. and Lin, T. C., Landscape representation by a permanent forest plot and alternative plot designs in a typhoon hotspot, Fushan, Taiwan. Remote Sens., 2020, 12(4), 660.

  • Negi, G. C. S., Joshi, S., Singh, P. and Joshi, R., Phenological response patterns of forest communities to annual weather variability at long-term ecological monitoring sites in Western Himalaya. Trees For. People, 2022, 8, e100237.

  • Chandra, S., Singh, A., Singh, C. P., Nautiyal, M. C. and Rawat, L. S., Vascular plants distribution in relation to topography and environmental variables in alpine zone of Kedarnath Wild Life Sanctuary, West Himalaya. J. Mountain Sci., 2018, 15(9), 1936–1949.


Abstract Views: 214

PDF Views: 90




  • Long-Term Ecological Monitoring and Observation: A Review in the Context of Indian Himalaya

Abstract Views: 214  |  PDF Views: 90

Authors

Vikram S. Negi
G.B. Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment (GBP-NIHE), Almora 263 643, India
Suresh K. Rana
G.B. Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment (GBP-NIHE), Almora 263 643, India
Bhawana Dangwal
G.B. Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment (GBP-NIHE), Almora 263 643, India
Shinny Thakur
G.B. Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment (GBP-NIHE), Almora 263 643, India
K. Chandra Sekar
G.B. Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment (GBP-NIHE), Almora 263 643, India
I. D. Bhatt
G.B. Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment (GBP-NIHE), Almora 263 643, India

Abstract


Long-term experiments are essential in understanding the ecological consequences of global land use and climate change. Further, it is well established that long-term data sets are prerequisites for effective management of forest resources and biodiversity conservation. In view of this, the present study attempts to contribute to major global long-term ecological monitoring (LTEM) networks and the status of LTEM studies in India with a special focus on Indian Himalayan Region. Over the last 40 years, around 103 countries from the America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia have been engaged in LTEM studies on various aspects of biodiversity, monitoring and predicting climate change impacts in a range of ecosystems, including the mountains. The temporal distribution of past studies on the subject shows a gradual increasing pattern (3 papers in 1992) with a peak during 2021 (105 papers). The established LTEM networks across the globe provide a significant empirical basis for understanding ecosystem structure and dynamics. Literature indicates plenty of permanent monitoring plots from India, mostly from southern India, and their significant contribution to ecosystem understanding. Himalayan regions are important sites for monitoring biological and socio-ecological responses to environmental perturbations, including climate change. LTEM studies are lacking in the IHR; only a few sites have been established, mostly in alpine ecosystems. This review identifies research gaps, opportunities with respect to LTEM studies, and the possibilities for strengthening long-term research and observation in India in general and the Himalaya in particular.

Keywords


Alpine Ecosystem, Biodiversity Conservation, Forest Management, Himalaya, Long-Term Ecological Monitoring, Long-Term Observations.

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv125%2Fi6%2F623-634