An experimental assessment of the upper elevational limit of flowering plants in the western Himalaya

0347461 - BÚ 2011 RIV DK eng J - Journal Article
Klimeš, Leoš - Doležal, Jiří
An experimental assessment of the upper elevational limit of flowering plants in the western Himalaya.
Ecography. Roč. 33, č. 3 (2010), s. 590-596. ISSN 0906-7590. E-ISSN 1600-0587
R&D Projects: GA AV ČR IAA600050802; GA ČR GA206/03/1219
Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z60050516
Keywords : species richness * vascular plants * species limits
Subject RIV: EF - Botanics
Impact factor: 4.417, year: 2010

Transplant experiments are a useful tool both for determining species' ranges and understanding their cause, yet such experiments have seldom been performed in areas where plants reach extremely high elevations. We examined the position of the upper elevational limits of vascular plants in E Ladakh, India, by transplanting individuals of 14 subnival species from 5800-5850 m elevation to a control site at the same elevation, as well as to edaphically suitable sites at 5960 m (subnival belt with sparse plant cover), to 6030 m (the highest elevation reached by vascular plants in the area) and to 6160 m elevation (no vascular plants observed). Two years later, transplants of 13 species survived at the control elevation, whereas 5 species survived at 5960 m, 2 species (Waldheimia tridactylites, Poa attenuata) at 6030 m, and none at 6160 m. The highest elevation at which transplanted flowering plants survived corresponds well to the observed elevational limit.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0188233