Project Detail

How global warming affects plant diversity and productivity in Himalayas? Combining in-situ and remote sensing approaches

Name:	How global warming affects plant diversity and productivity in Himalayas? Combining in-situ and remote sensing approaches
Researchers:	Doležal Jiří (researcher)
Provider:
Realization from:	2020
Realization to:	2023
Summary:	The Himalayas are experiencing the most dramatic climate change outside the poles but the impacts on plant diversity, growth and productivity are not well known. Using a combination of remote sensing with in-situ plant, soil and climate measurements, we will investigate how warming has changed plant diversity and productivity in the W Himalayas over the last four decades, and how the responses varied across an elevation gradient (2650-6150 m) from deserts to subnival zone, how plant diversity stabilizes ecosystem functioning, which plant traits facilitate species persistence in warming mountains, and how biotic interactions mitigate the negative impacts of climate change on plant diversity and ecosystem functions. Spectral productivity indices, vegetation plot resurvey, species-specific growth and recruitment histories and functional traits will be used to quantify plant responses to climate change across different spatiotemporal scales. We will provide a new perspective into adaptive mechanisms and determinants of ecosystem responses to climate change for the understudied Himalayas.