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<p>Understanding how alpine plant communities respond to elevation and microclimatic variation is critical for anticipating biodiversity changes under global climate stress. The high-elevation summits of the Kumaun Himalaya remain underrepresented in long-term ecological monitoring, despite their vulnerability to warming. This study assessed floristic composition, functional traits, and endemism across three alpine summits in the Kumaun Himalaya, surveyed under the Himalayan Alpine Dynamics and Research Initiative across a 640&#xa0;m elevational gradient. A total of 102 vascular plant species from 75 genera and 32 families were documented, with perennials and hemicryptophytes dominating the flora. Vegetation cover and species richness declined with increasing elevation, accompanied by a functional shift toward short-lived and stress-tolerant life forms. Perennial richness showed a strong negative relationship with elevation (R<sup>2</sup> = 0.9954), and broad endemic species also decreased sharply (R<sup>2</sup> = 0.9845), indicating climatic sensitivity. Species turnover was high between summits and slope aspects, with Jaccard dissimilarity reaching 0.98 between the lowest and highest elevations. Soil temperature decreased by 4.8&#xa0;°C across the gradient, and was strongly associated with a 1.1-unit decline in Shannon diversity. South- and east-facing slopes, being warmer, supported higher plant diversity than cooler north- and west-facing aspects. The findings provide a baseline assessment of vegetation composition, functional traits, and elevational patterns across three GLORIA/HIMADRI monitoring summits in the Kumaun Himalaya. Although the observed patterns are specific to the study region and should be interpreted as exploratory, they contribute to long-term ecological monitoring and may inform future climate-sensitive conservation planning and biodiversity monitoring in Himalayan alpine ecosystems.</p>

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Alpine plant diversity and functional adaptations across elevational and microclimatic gradients in the Kumaun Himalaya

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年7月31日

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  • Vandana Bisht,
  • Swati Naidu,
  • Subrat Sharma,
  • Surendra S. Bargali,
  • C. P. Singh

摘要

Understanding how alpine plant communities respond to elevation and microclimatic variation is critical for anticipating biodiversity changes under global climate stress. The high-elevation summits of the Kumaun Himalaya remain underrepresented in long-term ecological monitoring, despite their vulnerability to warming. This study assessed floristic composition, functional traits, and endemism across three alpine summits in the Kumaun Himalaya, surveyed under the Himalayan Alpine Dynamics and Research Initiative across a 640 m elevational gradient. A total of 102 vascular plant species from 75 genera and 32 families were documented, with perennials and hemicryptophytes dominating the flora. Vegetation cover and species richness declined with increasing elevation, accompanied by a functional shift toward short-lived and stress-tolerant life forms. Perennial richness showed a strong negative relationship with elevation (R2 = 0.9954), and broad endemic species also decreased sharply (R2 = 0.9845), indicating climatic sensitivity. Species turnover was high between summits and slope aspects, with Jaccard dissimilarity reaching 0.98 between the lowest and highest elevations. Soil temperature decreased by 4.8 °C across the gradient, and was strongly associated with a 1.1-unit decline in Shannon diversity. South- and east-facing slopes, being warmer, supported higher plant diversity than cooler north- and west-facing aspects. The findings provide a baseline assessment of vegetation composition, functional traits, and elevational patterns across three GLORIA/HIMADRI monitoring summits in the Kumaun Himalaya. Although the observed patterns are specific to the study region and should be interpreted as exploratory, they contribute to long-term ecological monitoring and may inform future climate-sensitive conservation planning and biodiversity monitoring in Himalayan alpine ecosystems.