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Rasray BA, Ahmad R, Lone SA, Islam T, Wani SA, Hussain K, Dar FA, Datt Rai I, Padalia H, Ahmad Khuroo A. Cushions serve as conservation refuges for the Himalayan alpine plant diversity: Implications for nature-based environmental management. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2024; 359:120995. [PMID: 38692030 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.120995] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2024] [Revised: 04/03/2024] [Accepted: 04/20/2024] [Indexed: 05/03/2024]
Abstract
Globally, rapid climate and land-use changes in alpine environments are posing severe risks to their bountiful biodiversity and ecosystem services. Currently, nature-based solutions are fast-emerging as the preferred approach to address the challenges of environmental sustainability. In alpine environments, cushion plants owing to their unique architecture and adaptability offer a potential nature-based system to plan biodiversity conservation and habitat restoration strategies. Here, we employed an analytical framework to test whether and how the cushion plants facilitate the sustenance of alpine plant diversity in Kashmir Himalaya. We specifically aimed to answer: what are the effects of the cushion plants on the patterns of alpine species richness and phylogenetic diversity, and whether these effects vary across spatial scales (local versus landscape), cushion types, and changing elevation. We randomly selected pairs of cushion and neighbouring non-cushion plots (size 100 m2) across 34 different alpine sites in the study region. Within each plot, we randomly laid three 5 m2 quadrats for vegetation sampling, and sampled a total of 204 quadrats in 68 plots with seven cushion types along elevation ranging from 3100 to 3850 m. Our results revealed positive effects of the cushions by supporting a higher community species richness (SR) and phylogenetic diversity (PD). The effects were consistent both at the local (i.e., quadrat) and landscape (i.e., plot) scales, but varied significantly with the cushion type. Interestingly, SR and PD showed an increasing trend with increase in elevation in cushion communities, thereby supporting stress gradient hypothesis. Along the elevational gradient, the cushion communities showed phylogenetic overdispersion, but clustering by non-cushions. Overall, our study provides empirical evidence to reinforce the role of the cushions as conservation refugia for an imperilled alpine plant diversity in the Himalaya. Looking ahead, we highlight the far-reaching implications of our findings in guiding the nature-based environmental management of alpine ecosystems worldwide.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bilal A Rasray
- Centre for Biodiversity and Taxonomy, Department of Botany, University of Kashmir, Srinagar - 190006, Jammu and Kashmir, India
| | - Rameez Ahmad
- Centre for Biodiversity and Taxonomy, Department of Botany, University of Kashmir, Srinagar - 190006, Jammu and Kashmir, India
| | - Showkeen A Lone
- Centre for Biodiversity and Taxonomy, Department of Botany, University of Kashmir, Srinagar - 190006, Jammu and Kashmir, India
| | - Tajamul Islam
- Centre for Biodiversity and Taxonomy, Department of Botany, University of Kashmir, Srinagar - 190006, Jammu and Kashmir, India
| | - Sajad Ahmad Wani
- Centre for Biodiversity and Taxonomy, Department of Botany, University of Kashmir, Srinagar - 190006, Jammu and Kashmir, India
| | - Khalid Hussain
- Centre for Biodiversity and Taxonomy, Department of Botany, University of Kashmir, Srinagar - 190006, Jammu and Kashmir, India
| | - Firdous Ahmad Dar
- Centre for Biodiversity and Taxonomy, Department of Botany, University of Kashmir, Srinagar - 190006, Jammu and Kashmir, India
| | - Ishwari Datt Rai
- Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, Indian Space Research Organisation, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, 248001, India
| | - Hitendra Padalia
- Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, Indian Space Research Organisation, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, 248001, India
| | - Anzar Ahmad Khuroo
- Centre for Biodiversity and Taxonomy, Department of Botany, University of Kashmir, Srinagar - 190006, Jammu and Kashmir, India.
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Catella SA, Abbott KC. Effects of abiotic heterogeneity on species densities and interaction strengths lead to different spatial biodiversity patterns. Front Ecol Evol 2023. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2023.1071375] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/22/2023] Open
Abstract
During community assembly, abiotic factors can influence species at multiple stages during their life history, for example by affecting early settlement or establishment probabilities and thus initial densities (route 1: abiotic effects on density), or later by affecting the strength of biotic interactions during subsequent life stages (route 2: abiotic effects on interaction strengths). Since real abiotic landscapes are multivariate and complex, how these two distinct routes of abiotic influence affect community patterns has not been quantified. Using an individual-based spatially explicit simulation model, we compared scenarios where abiotic conditions shaped initial densities, interaction strengths, or both, of plant species with unique abiotic niches. We then partitioned the effect of the abiotic landscape on community patterns into components arising from variable density, variable interaction strengths, and their interaction. Even when plants responded to identical landscapes, variable density and variable interaction strengths led to different community patterns, and their combined effects were non-additive. Variable density promoted more spatial structure, while variable interaction strengths promoted higher local species richness. We highlight important implications these findings have in applied plant community ecology.
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