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<p>Alpine region covers approximately 33% of the total geographical area of the Himalaya and stores a significant amount of carbon in biomass and soil. An increase in shrub cover under climate warming&#xa0;scenario is expected to result in the loss of current area of alpine meadows with significant implications towards carbon balance. While previous research on carbon budgets has primarily focused on forests or grasslands, the shrub-dominated alpine ecosystem has remained under-explored, limiting our understanding to quantify and predict ecosystem carbon balance under a shrub expansion scenario. This study aims to assess the carbon budget in dominant shrubs and herbaceous communities across elevation gradients in the alpine ecosystem of Western Himalaya. During the peak growing season, we measured daytime CO<sub>2</sub> flux in terms of net ecosystem exchange, ecosystem respiration, soil respiration, and also quantified carbon pools of <i>Rhododendron anthopogon</i> D. Don, <i>Juniperus polycarpos</i> K. Koch, <i>Caragana versicolor</i> Benth. and their adjacent open herbaceous communities, along an elevation gradient. Our results showed higher carbon fixation rates in <i>R. anthopogon</i> and <i>J. polycarpos</i>,&#xa0;compared to open herbaceous communities, while <i>C. versicolor</i> exhibited the opposite trend. The total carbon pool was greater in shrubs than in open herbaceous communities. Along the elevation gradients, CO<sub>2</sub> fluxes showed a decreasing trend while carbon pools increased. Our findings indicated that evergreen shrubs have a higher CO<sub>2</sub> uptake rate than open herbaceous communities and deciduous shrub communities due to their larger photosynthetic surface area and longer duration to photosynthesize. Their encroachment into alpine meadows may boost growing season carbon sink capacity under future climate warming.</p>

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Estimation of carbon pools and fluxes reveals higher carbon sequestration potential for evergreen shrubs compared to open herbaceous communities in the Alpine region of Western Himalaya

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年4月17日

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  • Bittu Ram,
  • Amit Chawla

摘要

Alpine region covers approximately 33% of the total geographical area of the Himalaya and stores a significant amount of carbon in biomass and soil. An increase in shrub cover under climate warming scenario is expected to result in the loss of current area of alpine meadows with significant implications towards carbon balance. While previous research on carbon budgets has primarily focused on forests or grasslands, the shrub-dominated alpine ecosystem has remained under-explored, limiting our understanding to quantify and predict ecosystem carbon balance under a shrub expansion scenario. This study aims to assess the carbon budget in dominant shrubs and herbaceous communities across elevation gradients in the alpine ecosystem of Western Himalaya. During the peak growing season, we measured daytime CO2 flux in terms of net ecosystem exchange, ecosystem respiration, soil respiration, and also quantified carbon pools of Rhododendron anthopogon D. Don, Juniperus polycarpos K. Koch, Caragana versicolor Benth. and their adjacent open herbaceous communities, along an elevation gradient. Our results showed higher carbon fixation rates in R. anthopogon and J. polycarpos, compared to open herbaceous communities, while C. versicolor exhibited the opposite trend. The total carbon pool was greater in shrubs than in open herbaceous communities. Along the elevation gradients, CO2 fluxes showed a decreasing trend while carbon pools increased. Our findings indicated that evergreen shrubs have a higher CO2 uptake rate than open herbaceous communities and deciduous shrub communities due to their larger photosynthetic surface area and longer duration to photosynthesize. Their encroachment into alpine meadows may boost growing season carbon sink capacity under future climate warming.