Mountain ecosystems support a significant one-third of all terrestrial biodiversity, but our understanding of the spatiotemporal maintenance of this high biodiversity remains poor, or at best controversial. The Himalaya hosts a complex mountain ecosystem with high topographic and climatic heterogeneity and harbors one of the world's richest floras. The high species endemism, together with increasing anthropogenic threats, has qualified the Himalaya as one of the most significant global biodiversity hotspots. The topographic and climatic complexity of the Himalaya makes it an ideal natural laboratory for studying the mechanisms of floral exchange, diversification, and spatiotemporal distributions. Here, we review literature pertaining to the Himalaya in order to generate a concise synthesis of the origin, distribution, and climate change responses of the Himalayan flora. We found that the Himalaya supports a rich biodiversity and that the Hengduan Mountains supplied the majority of the Himalayan floral elements, which subsequently diversified from the late Miocene onward, to create today's relatively high endemicity in the Himalaya. Further, we uncover links between this Miocene diversification and the joint effect of geological and climatic upheavals in the Himalaya. There is marked variance regarding species dispersal, elevational gradients, and impact of climate change among plant species in the Himalaya, and our review highlights some of the general trends and recent advances on these aspects. Finally, we provide some recommendations for conservation planning and future research. Our work could be useful in guiding future research in this important ecosystem and will also provide new insights into the maintenance mechanisms underpinning other mountain systems.

/pdf/spatiotemporal-maintenance-of-flora-in-the-himalaya-1u0yegeno2.pdf

Spatiotemporal maintenance of flora in the Himalaya biodiversity hotspot: Current knowledge and future perspectives

The spatial distributions of plant species are results of variable environmental gradients, including climatic and edaphic factors, biotic factors, different eco-physiological processes, species-specific characteristics, and resource requirements, thus producing spatial heterogeneity. The species distribution and their rate of change across elevational gradients in nineteen forest communities were studied using the quadrat method and statistical modeling tools. Pindari-Sunderdhunga-Kafni (PSK) area of the Kumaun region and the Lata-Tolma-Phagti (LTP) area in the Garhwal region in the buffer zone of Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve were selected as the extensive study sites. A total of 4278 individual trees belonging to 42 families in the PSK site and 6436 individual trees belonging to 25 families in the LTP site were recorded across elevational gradients between 2050 to 3800 m a.s.l. Because of the narrow elevational range and complexity in the field-based data structure, Generalized Additive Model (GAM) was used to predict the rate of change of species richness and species density. The results showed a significant decrease in density at a rate of 319–355 ind ha-1 per 100 m elevation in the Pindari-Sunderdhunga-Kafni site (P

Spatial prediction of plant species richness and density in high-altitude forests of Indian west Himalaya

Decline in the suitable habitat of dominant Abies species in response to climate change in the Hindu Kush Himalayan region: insights from species distribution modelling

The spatial distribution pattern of species diversity and its driving variables are essential to understanding how biodiversity will respond to the threat of future climatic instability. This study examines how the alpha and beta diversity indices vary along the elevation gradient and which factors are more responsible for arid and semi-arid plant diversity and community assembly. There were 121 species from 90 genera and 42 families found at elevations ranging from 1,200 to 2,600 m within the Ningxia Helan Mountain National Nature Reserve in China. These were primarily shrubs and herbs with characteristics adapted to extreme temperatures. The diversity of both the shrub layer and the herb layer was highest at mid-elevation, underscoring the importance of protecting mid-elevation ecosystems. Climatic distance and topographic distance were more influential than spatial distance in driving the species composition change of shrubs and herbs. In the herb layer, climatic, topographic, and spatial factors contributed more to community assembly than shrub communities. In this case, improving the environment in the community or introducing herbs could help the restoration of these places. These findings provide insight into biogeographic patterns, biodiversity growth mechanisms, and community formation processes. Moreover, it can improve projections of climate change within and across ecosystems and provide the scientific basis for the use and management of plant resources in arid and semi-arid regions.

/pdf/plant-diversity-patterns-along-an-elevation-gradient-the-3mdzy9r6.pdf

Plant diversity patterns along an elevation gradient: the relative impact of environmental and spatial variation on plant diversity and assembly in arid and semi-arid regions

In an era of the Post-2020 global biodiversity framework, empirical synthesis of biodiversity data spanning across broad biogeographic scales is urgently required to inform policy and management. Although the availability and access to biodiversity databases have recently improved, yet majority of these databases lack sufficient geographic coverage, especially from the biodiversity hotspot regions of developing countries, thereby severely limiting their utility and generalizability across the globe. Here, we present a comprehensive tree database (2199 species) of the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR) – home to two global biodiversity hotspots – collated from a quantitative synthesis of 234 studies published over the last one century. Taking leverage of this novel database, we unravel the patterns of diversity, distribution, and drivers of the trees of IHR. We found that the species richness, compositional similarity, distribution patterns, and biome affiliation of the tree diversity vary significantly across the IHR, with nearly half of the tree species affiliated with the wet tropical biome. Of the 10 climatic and environmental drivers used, the annual mean temperature and elevation width in combination best predicted the variation in tree diversity across the IHR. We also identify 117 endemic and 88 threatened tree species in the IHR, which merit conservation priority. Our findings have significant utility in formulating management and restoration strategies for biodiversity conservation across the IHR. Overall, our study showcases a model biodiversity database with wide policy implications in the planning and management of tree-focussed environmental programs to restore the degraded forest landscapes and plantation-specific climate change mitigation strategies in the region. 

Biodiversity data synthesis on trees of Indian Himalayan Region: policy and management implications

The relationship between elevation and seed-plant species richness in the Mt. Namjagbarwa region (Eastern Himalayas) and its underlying determinants

Sinosenecio jiuzhaigouensis (Asteraceae, Senecioneae), a new species from Jiuzhaigou county in northwestern Sichuan province, China, is described and illustrated. This species is similar to S. hederifolius and S. cyclaminifolius in having ovate-cordate leaf blade and solitary capitula, but differs by having swollen (vs. not swollen) rhizomes and smaller capitula (2–3 vs. 4–5 cm in diameter). Two floral micromorphological characters (configuration of filament collars and of anther endothecial cell wall thickenings), achene surface feature, and chromosome number of the new species are reported.

Sinosenecio jiuzhaigouensis (Asteraceae, Senecioneae), a new species from Sichuan, China

The floral characters of Acer yui are supplemented based on living plants flowering in April from the type locality. It is distinguishable based on both vegetative and floral characters between the two morphologically similar species, A. buergerianum and A. yui. Contrary to general consideration that the holotype is at PE, A. yui did not have a holotype designated when being described. It was later inadvertently lectotypified by Fang in 1939 and the single specimen traced meets that designation should be the lectotype, and the other duplicates are isolectotypes.

Supplementary description of floral characters and nomenclatural note for the rare maple Acer yui W.P.Fang (Sapindaceae) from western China

Abstract A new species of Papaveraceae, Corydalis sunhangii, in the section Trachycarpae, is described and illustrated from Nyingchi City, Xizang, China. The new species has some resemblance to Corydalis kingdonis, but differs by radical leaves prominent, usually several, blade tripinnate (vs. insignificant, few, blade bi‐ to triternate); cauline leaf usually one, much smaller than radical leaves, usually situated in lower half of stem (vs. usually two, larger than radical leaves, concentrated in upper third of stem); racemes densely 13–35‐flowered (vs. rather lax, 4–11‐flowered); claw of lower petal shallowly saccate (vs. very prominently and deeply saccate); capsule oblong, with raised lines of dense papillae (vs. broadly obovoid, smooth). Phylogenetic analysis, based on 68 protein‐coding plastid genes of 49 samples, shows that C. sunhangii is not closely related to any hitherto described species, which is consistent with our morphological analysis.

Corydalis sunhangii (Papaveraceae): A new species from Xizang, China, based on plastome and morphological data

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The relationship between elevation and seed-plant species richness in the Mt. Namjagbarwa region (Eastern Himalayas) and its underlying determinants

Sinosenecio jiuzhaigouensis (Asteraceae, Senecioneae), a new species from Sichuan, China

Supplementary description of floral characters and nomenclatural note for the rare maple Acer yui W.P.Fang (Sapindaceae) from western China

Corydalis sunhangii (Papaveraceae): A new species from Xizang, China, based on plastome and morphological data