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) Prošek Jiří (member in research team) Macek Martin (member in research team) Kopecký Martin (member in research team) Altman Jan (member in research team) Chlumská Zuzana (member in research team) |
| Provider: | |
| Number: | GA21-26883S |
| Web: | https://starfos.tacr.cz/cs/projekty/GA21-26883S |
| Realization from: | 2021 |
| 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. |