Functionality of the temperate forests in the Western Himalaya with changing climate

Abstract

Climate change may potentially affect the biodiversity and functionality of forests globally. An understanding of the relationship between biodiversity and forest ecosystem functioning can be attained by evaluating variations in functional indices. The present study evaluated four taxonomic indicators: Species richness (SRic), Species evenness (SEve), Shannon index (H), and Simpson index (D), and three functional indices: Community Weighted Mean (CWM), Functional Diversity (FDiv), and Functional Regularity (FRO), in 17 temperate forest stands and their relationship with climatic factors in Western Himalaya. We evaluated the variation in the functioning of temperate forest stands and, the relationship between forest functioning and climatic parameters. We proposed an index for the evaluation of relative forest functionality by aggregating the three functional indices. The data were collected by randomly laying ten quadrats, each measuring 0.1 ha, in each of the seventeen forest stands. We found significant differences in the indices across the various forest stands. Structural equation modelling analysis found that maximum temperature, rainfall, SRic, D and FDiv were the main contributors to the temperate forest functionality. Therefore, the functionality of temperate forests in the region is being affected by changes in the rainfall and maximum temperature of the region. Consequently, there is a need for evaluations of forest resilience and adaptation under changing climate conditions to manage and conserve the forest.